Home for the Holidaze
by boidwriter
Summary: Betty and Daniel return to New York for Christmas with their families.  Things don't go as smoothly as they would have hoped.
1. Chapter 1

_This takes place after Chapter 17 of Evolution of a Friendship...before the epilogue.  
_

_Thanks to Vaniah for the inspiration to do this "fill in the blank" episode._

* * *

When her alarm sounded, Betty's small hand crept out from under the cozy duvet and she pushed the snooze button. Relaxing, she allowed herself the pleasure of a few more minutes of slumber. That is, until her semi-conscious mind processed the reason for the alarm in the first place. Her heart leapt and she sat up throwing the covers off. She flicked on the lamp beside the bed.

"We're going home today!" She softly squealed in a voice half squeak, half whisper.

Unable to contain her enthusiasm, she pounced on the Daniel-shaped lump of covers sleeping next to her. Unfortunately, Daniel was sleeping on the very edge of the mattress so Betty's small but mighty leap on top of him sent both of them, a couple of pillows and the duvet crashing with a loud and painful thud to the floor – Daniel on the bottom, Betty sprawled on top.

"Owww." Betty could only hear a soft moan from underneath all the linens.

"Oh…Daniel…" She rummaged around in the bedding until she found his face. "I'm so sorry. I'm just so excited to be going home. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I think so…I mostly landed on a pillow. That's an interesting way to wake someone."

When she realized he was fine she started laughing hysterically at what she'd just done, burying her face in the duvet on his chest to try to stifle it a little. Once she'd collected herself, she gave him a haphazard peck on the check before pulling herself up.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Daniel grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her and started kissing whatever available skin there was. "You're going to jump me like that and all I get is that meager kiss?"

She gave him a look and tried, unsuccessfully, to extricate herself from the bundle on the floor. Daniel was having none of it – he held her firm.

"Daniel…we have a plane to catch."

"The plane can wait…I can't."

"Daniel…seriously. I need to shower and get my stuff together. I arranged for a cab to be here at four thirty." She said. Daniel groaned. A thought occurred to her. "You **are** ready to go aren't you?"

"Mostly." He said. Betty recognized that look.

"Daniel…I do **not** want to miss the plane." She warned him sternly.

He let her get up. He was a little wounded – Betty almost never turned him down. Obviously her head was somewhere else and there wasn't any amount of cajoling or coaxing that was going to get him what he wanted this morning – and it wasn't an early morning flight to the United States. It's not that he didn't want to go…he just wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Betty about it. Granted a kid going to Disney World for the first time wasn't as excited as Betty was today. He sat up and rubbed his head. Come to think of it, it had kind of hurt when he hit the floor. He got up and threw the linens on the bed in a big crumpled mess. Betty would hate it, but frankly he needed to gather a few more things together and based on what she just said - and the way she said it – she would hate missing the plane far more.

Betty had spent the night at Daniel's house. She had said it was easier: one cab, one pickup and straight to the airport. Truthfully though, she thought Daniel was likely to over sleep if she wasn't there to make sure he got up on time. He wasn't good with early mornings, particularly extremely early mornings like this one. Of course, she didn't tell him that. And really, it wasn't like she even had to convince him she should stay over - Daniel always wanted her there and she'd been sleeping there more and more lately.

There was absolutely nothing festive about the Heathrow Airport at all, unless you count the little girl with the reindeer headband and flashing Rudolph necklace. In fact no one would have even suspected the holidays were just around the corner if it weren't for the people that were bustling around trying to catch their flights. It's was amazing how busy the airport could be three days before Christmas even if it was only five in the morning.

Daniel and Betty had arrived, as required, two hours before their scheduled flight. Betty wanted to make sure they didn't have to rush. She hated rushing at the airport. It flustered her and made her uncomfortable for the entire trip.

Daniel was not in good humour. For one thing he hadn't yet had a coffee. For another, his head and his ego were kind of bruised from that sudden, unexpected and obviously unfruitful pounce from Betty this morning. And for a third, it was a horrific time in the morning to be anywhere, let alone at the airport with all the craziness of holiday travel. Daniel had originally suggested they take a later flight…after all there were at least five a day to New York at this time of year. But Betty couldn't be convinced. A later flight was more expensive and she needed to save money where she could. Never mind that when Meade stocks were up, Daniel could have bought a couple 747s or at least a few Airbuses. Betty had insisted she pay her own way…it was one of her things. So here he was, with her, at this ungodly hour. He had been tempted to take one of the later flights himself anyway, but thought better of it. This was their first trip home together. It would look really bad, particularly to Betty's family, if they came home separately. Besides, he knew that later in the morning when the fuzz of sleep deprivation wore off he would be glad to have Betty beside him for the seven hour flight.

"I hate the endless waiting. Why on earth do we need to get here two hours before the flight? It's not like we're driving the plane." He complained. He knew he was being childish and pouty but he couldn't stop himself.

Betty cocked her head to the side and smiled at him. She could tell he was grumpy.

"I think we need coffee." She suggested.

That was the first sensible thing that he'd heard that day.

Betty went over to the coffee shop and ordered two coffees. She walked back to where Daniel was sitting with the carry-ons and handed him his cup. He smiled a half smile up at her.

"Let's just relax, have our coffee and read a little bit." She suggested trying to appease him.

"Read?" He said, like it was a foreign concept.

"Yes…you did think to bring a book didn't you?" Betty was surprised.

"I wasn't thinking much of anything, when I got up this morning, except that I wanted more sleep." He said.

Betty smirked and shook her head at him. "Let's get you a magazine." She suggested. She walked over to the magazine stand. "Hey…how about the Christmas issue of Mode?" She waved it at him.

He smiled and nodded. It might be a little interesting to see the kind of issue Wilhelmena came up with on her own. He'd been completely out of the Mode loop for the past few months.

She brought it back over and handed it to him as she sat down beside him. He took it and sighed heavily.

Leaning in and bumping her shoulder playfully against him she said "Come on grumpy…snap out of it. We're going home. Aren't you even a little bit excited?"

"I'm happy to be going back to New York with you Betty. And I'm looking forward to seeing my mom." He said honestly. He added "But I'm not too thrilled about he Norman Rockwell Christmas my mother has planned." He was referring to Claire's attempt at having all her children together under one roof.

Betty smiled at him and for a brief moment he almost forgot his bad mood – she had effect on him.

"It'll be ok." She encouraged. "First of all…it's about time you got to know Tyler…for real…no alcohol involved. Second, you said that Alexis hasn't been so bad the past few times you've talked to her."

"Talking to her on the phone for a few minutes and spending Christmas holidays with her are two completely different things. I just hope I can survive it."

"Well, I'm completely jazzed to be going home. I miss everyone so much." Betty stated; a big smile spread across her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in New York, Marc was sitting at his desk proof reading the latest article he'd written when his phone rang.

"Marc St. James." He answered professionally.

"Hey Marc." Amanda said. "Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm working Mandy…you do remember what that's like…don't you?"

"I'm working too." She retorted. "I'm waiting for my new client. Go ahead, ask me who it is."

"Who is it?" Marc humoured her. Truthfully, he was curious. Amanda's clients were starting to impress him a little.

"Penelope Grayson. She plays Sam on "All the World's Sorrow"." Amanda had been building up quite the clientele from the soap opera crowd. She was actually becoming quite a popular stylist.

"Wow, Mandy…I'm impressed. She's pretty popular." Marc was sincere. "But I think you have your work cut out for you."

"I know, right…that hair! And she has absolutely no chesticles. It's like fitting a dress on a surf board. If she even had some breasts as big as man-boobs at least I'd have something to work with."

"So did you just call to rub in how exciting your life is? Or is there another reason you called?" Marc wanted to get to the point. "I **am** a busy fashion editor, you know."

"Oh right…I called because Daniel and Betty are coming home today and Betty's dad is having a big do for dinner."

"So?"

"So…I'm going and I wanted to know if you want to go too." Amanda thought it was straightforward.

"Why would I want to go to Queens – the land of polyester and vinyl?" He shivered.

"I know you've missed Betty too, Marc." Amanda said softly.

"Only because now there's way too much food left over at the end of the staff meetings. Besides Amanda, I wasn't invited." Marc said.

"That doesn't matter – they're Mexican - they're used to having a bazillion people around." She paused for a minute. "Come on Marc…you know you want to."

"Well, I am curious to see Daniel and Betty **together**." Marc admitted. Then he added "You know…like a gruesome accident you can't look away from."

"So you'll come?" Amanda was hopeful.

"I guess. I have nothing better to do tonight anyway." Marc replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel and Betty were well over the Atlantic. Betty was tightly wound – mainly because she was so anxious to see her family. She couldn't concentrate enough to read and there was no way she was going to be able to sleep.

"I can't wait to see everyone. I hope they like the presents I got. It's really hard to buy presents for people when you haven't been around…you know? Justin's taste changes so much and I never know what new music he's listening to…besides what's "in" in New York may not exactly be what's "in" in London."

Daniel just smiled and nodded.

"So Hilda, Bobby and Justin are going to the Talercio's for Boxing Day which means that they'll be coming to your mom's with us on Christmas day." She reached over and stole a couple of his peanuts.

"That's good." Daniel commented.

"Yeah…I know. Having everyone together will be sooo great." She was beaming.

Daniel chuckled. She might act like she'd had too many lattes when she was like this, but she certainly was adorable.

"You know it's probably snowing in New York." Betty looked across Daniel and out the window like she could see New York if she tried hard enough. "It's probably not staying on the ground but I love when it snows. It'll be colder than London…but not nearly as wet. And the cold is not so bad when you're inside cuddled up." She smiled sweetly.

"Yeah. It'll be nice to snuggle into a warm bed together on a cold, snowy winter evening won't it?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Betty looked mortified – she just realized what Daniel was thinking.

"What? What did I say?" Daniel was clearly in the dark about something.

"Daniel…you're not expecting to sleep with me…at Papi's…are you?" She was treading lightly.

"Well…no…I guess not." He lied. The truth was he hadn't given it much thought at all. When he'd thought of their first Christmas together this year, he'd thought of daytime or evening activities – shopping together at Sak's and Macy's, the annual New Years Eve party his mother had planned, and Christmas Eve at the Suarez house. He hadn't really thought about the nights. If he was honest he hadn't really considered **not** sleeping at the Suarez house. They were such a loving family and the house was so welcoming – not like the icy mansion he'd grown up in. He suddenly wished he'd kept his apartment when the lease had come up a couple of months ago.

She saw right through him and felt the need to explain. "You know we can't sleep together at Papi's, right? I mean…Papi's a little "old school". I don't think he'd like the idea of us sleeping in the same bed. To be honest I just assumed you'd be staying at your mom's." She was apologetic.

Daniel wondered if Ignacio Suarez was really as "old school" as Betty thought or if she was just uncomfortable with the idea herself. He vaguely recalled Hilda's "friend" or whatever…Justin's father…sitting at the breakfast table in very little more than Hilda's robe when he'd slept in Betty's bed after the Sophia incident. Clearly he'd stayed over and there wasn't a spare bed in the house that night. Of course, Betty and Hilda were two very different sisters and Hilda probably didn't worry about her father's opinion of her sleeping arrangement whereas Betty most definitely would.

_Could this day get any worse?_ Daniel wondered. Up at…no before, actually…the crack of dawn to take an economy class seat back to New York where he would be separated from Betty for two weeks. Sure he'd see her but they would almost invariably be with other people and he would certainly miss her warm body next to him in the nights.

"Maybe I could stay in Hilda's old room." Daniel ventured. Even the Suarez house without Betty in the same bed would be better than the mansion. Tyler was still staying at his mom's so that meant awkward conversation over breakfast - not something he relished. Not only that, but Alexis would be arriving in a few days and that meant the conversation would become less awkward…more antagonistic.

"Really?" Betty was surprised Daniel wanted to stay at her family's house so much. "Wait…are you so desperate to stay in Queens because you want to avoid the whole Tyler and Alexis thing at your mom's?" Nothing got past Betty. How did she know him so well?

"Do I really have to answer that?" Daniel asked.

"Ok. You can stay a couple of nights at Papi's but you really need to spend some time with your family, Daniel." He hated when she looked at him that way. Of course she was right, but it was easy for her to say – her family was normal.

"Are you going to watch the movie?" Daniel changed the subject.

"Nope. I think I'm going to read a little." She pulled out her book. Daniel doubted she would be able to concentrate on it for very long.

Daniel put on the earphones and settled back to watch the movie. The next thing he knew he was waking up. He looked around slightly dazed trying to recall where he was…right…airplane…New York…two weeks not sleeping with Betty. His bad mood came back almost immediately. He noticed Betty chatting amiably with a rather tall bald gentleman on the other side of the aisle. She was joking and smiling in her very characteristic way but something about the guy made Daniel uneasy. Maybe it was the way he leered at Betty over his round wire glasses. Not in an obvious way, but like he was checking her out or something. Daniel had been an expert at subtly checking out women – he could recognize it anywhere. And a couple of times he looked over his shoulder at Daniel in a somewhat creepy manner.

When there was a lull in her conversation Daniel leaned in and quietly whispered "Who's your friend?"

"His name is Glen." Betty answered. "He's an investment banker from New York."

"Hmm." Daniel said without much enthusiasm. "Is he trying to pick you up?" Daniel wasn't subtle.

"What! Of course not. Not all men are like that Daniel." Betty almost laughed at him for thinking that way.

"Really? Well did he ask if we're together?" Daniel asked.

Betty just looked at him dumbfounded; she didn't answer him. She didn't have to - Daniel could read her expression. He grinned with a smug look on his face.

"So? It just came up in conversation." Betty defended.

"Betty, don't be so naïve. Men don't ask your status unless they want to pick you up. Trust me…I know."

"You don't pick someone up on an airplane." Betty argued.

Daniel just gave her a look. She stared at him stunned for a minute realizing that his look also meant: trust him…he knew. She shook her head, slightly annoyed with him for possibly being right.

"Well, whatever…" Betty said, determined to finish her conversation with the man. "He's worked for some pretty famous people, although he won't give me too many details – confidentiality or something. He has also done some work for charitable organizations though…you know when someone dies and leaves a large estate gift to their favourite charity? There could be a human interest story in that. I'm going to try to see if I can find out more."

"Great. Just remember who you got on the plane with." He joked. Then he added "I'm going to see if I can find out what Wilhelmena's been up to." He picked up the Christmas edition of Mode that Betty had bought for him.

Several hours later, when the plane finally arrived at JFK, Daniel was extremely thankful the trip was over. Between the economy seats he wasn't really used to and the creepy dude who had become Betty's new friend, he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Hilda and Bobby were waiting for them after they cleared customs. Betty and Hilda screamed the moment they saw each other and they ran to give each other a big hug, clearly oblivious to the hundreds of other people in the airport. Daniel and Bobby shook hands.

"Oh my god…I missed you so much, Betty." Hilda was talking as she hugged Betty from side to side.

"I missed you too, Hilda." They pulled back from each other a little but sill held onto each other's arms.

"You have to tell me all about London and your big shot magazine."

"I brought the latest issue." Betty was excited. She hadn't sent them the new issue yet because she had wanted to share it in person.

"Let me see it." Hilda begged.

"I'll have to find it in my luggage. I'll show you after supper."

"Papi's been cooking for two days." Hilda said. "I don't know the last time I saw him this excited."

Betty finally remembered that she hadn't yet greeted Bobby. She let go of Hilda's arms and threw her own around him.

"Bobby, it's so great to see you."

"It's great to see you too, Chipmunk." Bobby said. Daniel smiled; he loved that nickname for Betty but he somehow knew that Bobby was the only one who was ever going to be able to get away with calling her that.

"Daniel, it's nice to have you home." Hilda warmly gave him a hug. "You guys must be wiped. We should get you to Papi's so you can rest before supper."

When they arrived at the Suarez house, Betty gave her dad and Justin huge hugs that lasted about five minutes each.

"Daniel…It's nice to see you." Ignacio greeted him, shaking his hand warmly.

Daniel helped Betty take her suitcase upstairs. He'd been quiet the entire car ride. Betty could tell he was still in his funk. She walked into her room behind him and closed the door.

"You have been in a mood all day." She said bluntly. "What's up with you?"

Daniel sat down like a pouty child on the edge of the bed.

"Do you realize that we haven't spent more than four consecutive nights apart since our first night together?"

Betty cocked her head to the side and smiled. She hadn't realized that. It was really sweet that he had.

"It's only two weeks…and we're not apart the whole time. We're just not sleeping in the same bed." He nodded unenthusiastically. Betty continued "Surely this isn't just about the sleeping arrangements. Something else is bugging you. Is it your family?"

"I guess."

She pulled him up to his feet and wrapped her arms around his waist. He immediately felt some of his bad mood melt away.

"Look Daniel, I know how stressed out your family can make you sometimes." She was thinking particularly about Alexis. "I'll tell you what…I'll come and stay at your mom's for a couple of nights with you - to act as a buffer. Would that help a little?"

"You would do that?"

"Of course I would. I love you Daniel. I can do that for you."

Daniel knew she was throwing him a bone. He immediately felt a little guilty. After all, he had Betty to himself the entire time they were in London and now when they came back to New York for a short visit he was going to snatch her away from her family. Why…because he was too much of a wimp to face his family on his own?

"I have a better idea." He said. "You let me stay here…with you…" he indicated her room "for six nights of our vacation and you don't have to come with me to my mom's at all."

She smiled at his negotiation. She could tell he was starting to feel better. "How about, I let you stay for four nights in **Hilda's** old room?" She was playing hardball.

Daniel sighed. "Ok…deal." He agreed reluctantly. "But I'm going to split the nights up a bit so I don't have to endure all "the crazy" in one long stretch."

She laughed. She grabbed his hand and they went downstairs.

"Where did you guys disappear to?" Hilda asked suspiciously.

"Just having a little talk." Betty smiled at Daniel. "I'm going to see if Papi needs any help."

Daniel sat down with Bobby, Justin and Hilda in the living room while Betty went into the kitchen.

"Do you need any help, Papi?"

"No. I think everything is under control, Mija. It sure is nice to have you home."

"Speaking of that…"Betty started. "I was wondering if – while we're back in New York – it would be alright if Daniel stayed here for a couple of nights?"

Ignacio raised his eyebrows and Betty added "In Hilda's room."

"He doesn't want to stay with his family?"

"Well…it's just that his family can be a little…overwhelming sometimes. And he's probably going to need a break from it once in a while."

Ignacio smiled knowingly. "Daniel's always welcome here Mija, you know that."

"Thanks Papi." She kissed him on the cheek.

Betty went back out to the living room where the rest of the crowd was talking. Somehow they were on the topic of Bobby's family and they seemed to be filling Daniel in.

"Bobby's practically related to the entire borough of Queens." Justin said.

"Not the whole borough…" Bobby corrected. "Just the upper east side."

"Whatever…" Justin said.

"It's how his family gets their…reputation." Hilda added emphasizing the word "reputation".

"For the last time Hilda, we are not part of…_the mob_." He whispered the last part like he was afraid ears would hear.

Daniel recalled a threat Hilda once made about Bobby "knowing people" and he chuckled.

"We just have a big family…and we're close…that's all." Bobby insisted. He turned to Betty as she walked in. "Help me out here, Chipmunk."

"I'm staying out of it." Betty laughed. She changed the subject. "So who's coming for dinner?"

"Daniel's mom, Tyler, Amanda and maybe Marc." Hilda answered.

Daniel immediately realized he would probably not be staying at the Suarez house tonight. An entire carload of people would be heading back into the city after supper and he knew his mother would be expecting him to be with them.

The doorbell rang and Betty went to answer it.

"Betty!" Amanda came bounding in and gave her a big hug. "I missed your sweet, little, brown face."

"I missed you too Amanda." Betty said smiling.

"Do you like my dress? It's your new flag." Amanda did a twirl. She was wearing a white and red dress with a white eagle emblem. "The colours look great on me, don't you think?"

"Uh…Amanda…that's the flag of Poland." Betty said cautiously.

"Poland…Holland, same thing."

"But I'm working in…" Betty shook her head. "Never mind."

Marc was next.

"Betty." He said reservedly.

"Marc! It's so good to see you." She threw her arms around him. Marc grimaced a little.

"Of course it is." He replied. He pulled back and looked at her and her outfit. "And look at you dressed like the world has gone monochromatic. Don't they sell clothes with hideous, clashing patterns in England?"

She ignored his comment.

"Mrs. Meade!" Betty let go of Marc and gave Claire Meade a hug.

"Betty…aww…you look terrific." Claire said sincerely. She'd long ago given up trying to get Betty to call her Claire. "It's so nice to have you home. Where's Daniel?" She said looking around. She spotted him in the living room.

"Daniel!" Claire went over to give her son a hug. "I've missed you so much. It looks like London is treating you well." She said complimenting him.

"Hi Mom. Yeah. I'm growing pretty fond of it." He smiled at Betty. Claire noticed the glance between the two and grinned.

Tyler was the last to enter.

"Hi Betty, I guess you're happy to be back to see your family." He said politely.

"You have no idea how glad." She gave him a big grin. "Come on in…make yourself at home." Betty said warmly. "I think Papi has dinner ready."

"I do indeed, everybody." Ignacio came into the room in his apron and oven mitts. "We don't have enough seats at the table so everyone can dish and then grab a seat where they can find one."

They spent the time over dinner chatting about what was happening at Mode and how Betty's magazine was coming along. Amanda shared some gossip about the celebrities she'd been styling.

After dinner Betty pulled out the magazine she'd found in her luggage and showed it to Hilda. Marc was sitting beside Hilda and made some backhanded compliment about how writing about the reprobates, rejects and outcasts of the world is so much more suited to Betty than fashion and style ever were.

When the evening was over, Daniel did decide to go into Manhattan to stay at his mom's house. Betty and Daniel were standing on the front step saying good night. Claire and Tyler had already left in one car but Marc and Amanda were in the second town car waiting.

"Could they hurry up already? It's freezing in here." Marc complained.

"We could just close the door, you know." Amanda reached over him and shut the door.

Amanda studied Daniel and Betty from the car. "They are totally doing it three or four times a week." She said nonchalantly and she snapped her gum.

"How do you know that?" Marc asked looking disgusted.

"I can tell…it's a gift." She snapped her gum again. A thought occurred to her. "Oh my god…do you think they're living together? They could totally be living together and no one would know."

"Ugh. Can you imagine: generic cotton and polyester blends hanging in the same closet as Armani and Versace?" Marc shivered. "It's bad enough they have to touch when those two" he waved his hand dismissively in the general direction of Daniel and Betty "co-mingle…or… whatever." He looked like he was trying desperately not to picture anything like it.

Daniel took a step toward Betty and Betty leaned in for a kiss. Amanda saw what was about to transpire over Marc's shoulder.

"Look away, Marc!" She warned him.

"What?..." Marc was oblivious and looked out the window. "Awwgk." He said disgustedly and then he gagged a little.


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel and Claire were walking down 5th Avenue the next day. Claire needed to pick up a few last minute gifts before Christmas and Daniel had decided to keep her company. He had a few things to do as well.

"Have you finished all of your shopping yet, dear?" She asked him.

"Almost. I just need to pick up something I ordered for Betty." He said. "Actually, it's right here. I won't be long." He turned and went into Tiffany's. Claire was far too curious to stand waiting out in the cold. She followed him.

He went to the counter. "I have an order that should be in…the name is Meade." He said to the salesman.

Daniel glanced down at the rings in the display. When he looked back up his mother had a smug look on her face.

"Daniel?" His mother was obviously very curious…and her imagination was going overboard. Daniel realized what she was thinking.

"It's not that, Mom." He knew he needed to clarify. "We're not ready for that yet."

She looked slightly disappointed.

"Daniel, dear, you were engaged to Molly only a few short months after you met her. You've known Betty for four years."

"Yeah, but we haven't been dating for four years Mom. Things with Betty move a lot slower. We were dating for almost three months before we even…" He suddenly remembered he was talking to his mother and decided he didn't want to finish that sentence. "…never mind."

She smirked knowingly. "I get it, darling - you're not ready." She said; but she gave him a look that told him she knew that wasn't the whole story.

"Ok, honestly…I don't think Betty's ready for it yet." He admitted.

He was completely ready, he had just been afraid that if he went there too soon Betty would freak out. He'd known for months that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He'd known before she'd even told him that she loved him. A few years ago, if you would have told him you could decide you wanted to spend your life with somebody before you even slept with them, he would have laughed. But that's how it had been with Betty. The connection they had was so amazing. With Betty, the sex was gravy – mind-blowing, phenomenal, other dimensional gravy – but still gravy.

The salesman returned to the counter with a small box in his hand. He lifted the lid to show Daniel the contents. Daniel reached in and pulled out a beautiful gold bracelet. It was a bangle with a small butterfly at the top. Each of the four sections of the butterfly's wings had a single diamond in the centre and there were four diamonds spaced along the top of the bangle itself. Daniel turned it over to make sure the engraving was correct.

"It's beautiful, darling." Claire said sincerely. "Betty will love it."

"Do you think so?" Daniel asked, uncertain himself if that was the case. He was never sure about buying expensive gifts for Betty – flashy gestures never really impressed her.

"In my opinion, if that's for Betty, it's not nearly garish enough." A familiar voice said from behind them. Daniel felt a chill run up his spine. He turned to see Wilhelmena. "Daniel, Claire…I'd say it's nice to see you but it seems a shame to cheapen the holiday season with such a blatant lie."

"Wilhelmena…what are you doing here? I wouldn't think you'd be shopping for the holidays…I thought your holiday was October 31." Claire retorted.

"Halloween…very original Claire." Wilhelmena said, with dripping sarcasm. "Creativity never was your strong suit…it involves too much sobriety."

"Ladies…please." Daniel couldn't stand the bickering and given their history, he was worried what it might lead to. He tried to smooth things over a little. "I read the Christmas Edition of Mode, Wilhemena. I was quite impressed; there were some very creative ideas…"

"Of course there were Daniel. And we were on time and under budget because I didn't have to run every nuance by someone else." She'd wanted to include a few insults but decided to tone it down. He had – after all - stepped aside and left her to run the magazine. There really was no point being completely ungracious.

"Right…" Daniel responded. What was there to say to that? Daniel turned and handed his credit card over the counter to the salesman.

"So, the rumour is true? You and Betty are…together?" Wilhelmena asked. She continued without waiting for an answer. "To be honest I was a little surprised when I heard." She paused for a second and Daniel braced himself for the smear against Betty. "I always thought Betty was brighter than that." She couldn't help herself - she had to get in at least one insult. Daniel was such an easy target.

"Now, if you'll excuse me I have somewhere to be." She turned and walked out of the store.

"Arghh." Claire was exasperated. "That woman drives me to drink."

"Mom…" Daniel warned as he finished his transaction with the salesman.

"It's only an expression, dear." She replied.

"Right…it's just that it's an expression that hits a little too close to home in your case." Daniel said. They left the store and started walking down the street.

Claire changed the subject. She wasn't finished grilling Daniel about his relationship with Betty.

"So, darling, about Betty…" Claire began. "Have you, at least, told her where you stand?"

"I thought we were finished talking about that Mom."

"Maybe you were Daniel, but I wasn't." Claire assured him.

"She knows I love her. I've told her that much." Daniel said, unsure why he was still having this conversation.

"Of course she knows you love her. You uprooted your life and flew across the ocean to be with her. But does she know your intentions?"

"We haven't really spoken much about the future, Mom. We're more about living in the present right now."

Claire touched Daniel's arm gently and stopped walking – like she wanted to make sure he understood the importance of her next thought.

"Darling, Betty is the best thing that ever happened to you. I hope you realize that." Claire was very pointed.

"You think I don't know that Mom?" Daniel did know; he hated to think who and where he would be if she hadn't come into his life four years ago.

"And she was around when you were with Molly." Claire stated the obvious fact.

"So?" What on earth was his mother getting at?

"So…she saw how quickly you jumped into marriage with Molly. If you wait too long she might start to wonder what the hold up is; she might doubt your feelings for her."

"Betty's not like that, Mom. Things with Betty are less like jumping…more like overanalyzing, and rethinking...over and over again." He smiled at the thought and they started walking again. "To be honest, I'm afraid of the opposite. I'm afraid if I move too quickly it'll screw everything up. Trust me, Mom. I need to wait a little longer. This is far too important to mess up by being impulsive."

Claire smiled and responded. "Alright darling, I guess you know Betty best. Just don't wait too long. I want to be able to enjoy my grandchildren while I'm still young enough."

Daniel's eyebrows almost shot off the top of his forehead but then he chuckled. "So now we're having kids? Good thing Betty's not dating you."


	5. Chapter 5

"Hilda, this is fantastic!" Betty fawned excitedly over Hilda's new shop in the basement of her new home. "You have so much more space than at Papi's."

"Yeah, and the clientele here are willing to pay just a little more than the stingy housewives in Queens. Business is going great." Hilda was glowing as she showed Betty around the house. "Betty, I'm so glad you're home." Hilda smiled affectionately at her. They walked upstairs into the kitchen where Hilda poured them the coffee she'd started brewing when Betty first arrived.

"I'm glad to be home Hilda. I've missed everyone so much."

"But you're doing so great in London…the magazine is terrific. I'm so proud of you."

Betty grinned. "So tell me…how's married life?"

"Oh Betty…I'm so happy. Bobby is so freakin' great. I don't know how I got so lucky." Hilda replied.

"I do Hilda – you deserve it."

"And what about you and Daniel, huh? What's going on with you two anyway…is it getting serious?" Hilda needed some details. They hadn't really had any one-on-one conversation since Betty and Daniel started dating. Phone calls were expensive so they never spoke very long and whenever they were on Skype, Justin and Bobby were usually around.

"I don't know…I guess. We don't talk a lot about the future. We're just enjoying each other in the present, right now."

"I'll bet." Hilda smirked.

Betty blushed. "That's not exactly what I meant, Hilda."

"So…do you think you'll be getting any jewelry for Christmas?" Hilda raised her eyebrows.

Betty answered casually "I don't know, I suppose he might buy me some jewelry…" She looked at Hilda and realized that her sister wasn't referring to a necklace or earrings. Suddenly she understood what Hilda was getting at. Her face froze and her eyes widened. "Oh my goodness...you're right!" A small panic started rising out of the knot in her stomach. "It would be just like Daniel to do something like that."

"What? You mean…to be romantic." Hilda saw Betty's panic and was trying to give her some perspective.

"No…I mean to jump into that so quickly – before we've even really talked about it." The panic was increasing and Betty wasn't sure whether she was more upset about the idea of Daniel proposing or that she hadn't realized it herself.

"Jeez Betty, sometimes I swear you're afraid to be happy." Hilda's tone was one of annoyed concern.

"What do you mean Hilda? I am happy. I'm happier than I've ever been in my life." Betty defended; although the rising agitation in her voice belied that fact.

"Then why is the idea of your gorgeous, millionaire boyfriend proposing to you freaking you out?" Hilda shook her head. "He's your best friend and he's crazy about you. You do love him don't you?"

"Of course I do Hilda." She paused for a second reflecting on just how much. She gave the only reason she could think of for why it must be so unnerving for her. "It's just too soon. We haven't been dating for very long."

"But you've known each other for four years Betty." She added, almost as an aside "Granted he wouldn't have been anyone's idea of an ideal boyfriend or husband for most of that time."

Betty nodded in agreement. "No argument here." Betty had a couple of flashbacks of Daniel's intense sexual escapades spiraling downhill when he fell deeper into depression or self-loathing, and she shook her head.

Hilda continued. "It doesn't really matter how long you've been dating…you guys already know each other so well. And when it's right…it's just right…you know?" She smiled as she thought dreamily of Bobby. "We all love Daniel, Betty…even Papi. And believe me, it's not always easy to win Papi over."

"I know." Betty smiled. She knew her dad liked Daniel…despite his relatively unorthodox first impression of him – hung-over and violently ill in various rooms of the Suarez household. "I guess it's just that we haven't thought that far ahead."

She and Daniel had never really spoken of their future. It felt, to Betty, like they'd only just recently come to terms with these relatively new emotions they'd been feeling for each other. And Betty had been determined that this one time she would not get ahead of herself in her relationship with Daniel – that she would just take it one day at a time. And that's exactly what they had been doing. It also helped that they were isolated from their families so they weren't constantly bombarded with questions about where things were leading in their relationship. Plus they'd both been so busy with their jobs lately that all thoughts of the future tended to be career focused.

She kind of resented what Hilda was insinuating though. She could be as romantic as the next person. She **had** almost gone to Rome with Gio. And when Henry had proposed she really did consider it. Although in both those instances she'd felt cornered – like they were forcing her to make a split decision that would impact the rest of her life.

And wasn't she the one that convinced Daniel to marry Molly at the planetarium and not wait to plan the perfect wedding? Granted it was ten times easier to push someone else to be spontaneous than to do that kind of thing yourself. But this was marriage Hilda was talking about; spending the rest of your life together. That's Huge! It's not wrong to want to talk a little about that ahead of time before you just jump into it.

Maybe it was time for her to talk to Daniel about their future. But what if it was not even on his radar? Would she seem pushy and needy if she brought it up? Then again…this was Daniel - often jumping before thinking. Betty decided it would be best to try to talk to him before he dove in and did something that would reek of…well…Daniel.

She was meeting up with him later in the day. Maybe they would have a chance then.

* * *

Daniel was walking toward the coffee shop on 4th Street where he and Betty had agreed to meet. The one they used to grab lunch at when they worked at Mode. Betty had suggested it – she'd been feeling nostalgic coming back to New York and had even wanted to be reminded of her Mode days…somewhat.

Betty was already sitting at a table when he arrived. She'd gotten herself a coffee and picked one up for Daniel too.

"I got you a coffee. That's ok…right?" Betty questioned. Daniel noticed an odd, nervous tone in her voice.

"Of course it is. I think you know how I take my coffee by now." He joked.

"Yeah…" She gave a nervous chuckle. "How was last night?" She asked. Daniel had spent the night at his Mom's.

"Ok. Tyler and I had an interesting conversation about Amanda at breakfast this morning." Daniel said. He proceeded to tell Betty how Tyler had decided to be upfront about dating Amanda. He had said that he didn't want to step on any toes but he really liked her and would Daniel mind if he pursued a relationship with her. Daniel had been taken aback by how forthright Tyler had been…taken aback and impressed. "I guess you were right…Tyler's not such a bad guy."

Betty didn't say anything. It was like she was lost in thought.

Daniel repeated a little louder "I said…I guess you were right." Betty looked up like he'd just gotten her attention. "Betty…I'm admitting you were right about something. Now I'm waiting for the "I told you so" look."

She smiled at him sheepishly, caught that she'd not really been paying attention. "Sorry Daniel…I'm just thinking."

"Betty…what's going on?" Daniel asked, eying her suspiciously.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on." Betty replied.

"First you're acting nervous, and now you're lost in thought. Is everything ok?" Daniel was concerned.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." She paused for a minute not sure how to bring up the topic; she was so serious, so anxious. "It's just…I think we need to talk."

The "we need to talk" line. Daniel's heart dropped into his shoes. What the heck was going on? They were fine – weren't they? He tried to think back the past few weeks. He hadn't done anything particularly boneheaded recently, nothing that would make her want to break up anyway. And in the past he'd done some pretty moronic things regarding Betty but somehow she always managed to forgive him, so for her to dump him it would have to be huge; surely he would remember something huge. She was acting edgy and nervous but it couldn't be that. He started to relax. Unless…there was always the proverbial straw…he hated that straw. He started sweating again.

"Sure." He managed to get out before he choked down a sip of coffee.

Betty took a deep breath before starting. Daniel noticed and stopped breathing himself.

"You know I love you…right?" Betty said. Daniel started breathing a little. That was a good start.

"Of course."

"And I know you love me." Daniel could tell she was very apprehensive. "And I know we've been enjoying the moment. Taking things day by day and all that…" Betty was fidgeting with her hands. Daniel wanted to say something to put her out of her misery but he really didn't know where she was going with all of this. "And now Christmas is coming and we'll be giving each other gifts. And some people think that certain Christmas presents might reflect a desire to push our relationship out of the present and focus it more on…uh…the future." She looked down at the table. "And I just wanted to talk about this before you do something so rash…um…I mean…before something so impulsive like that happens."

Daniel started to chuckle. He wasn't sure whether it was because she was being so adorable or if it was an instinctual reaction to the relief he now felt about the fact she wasn't dumping him. She wasn't talking to him because of something boneheaded he had done…she was worried about something boneheaded she thought he might do.

"Why are you laughing?" She naturally didn't understand.

He was honest "When you said "we need to talk" my imagination started running away with me. I thought maybe I'd done something idiotic and you'd had enough of me. I'm just relieved I guess."

Betty laughed too. But she wouldn't be deterred - she got back on topic. "So…I was thinking, if said Christmas present existed maybe…

Daniel interrupted her, proud that he'd been so astute about Betty – she would have freaked out. "I didn't buy you a ring Betty." He said bluntly.

Betty was startled. "Oh…" There was definitely an air of disappointment in her voice.

Daniel was confused…hadn't she been just about to tell him that proposing right now would have been hasty? He knew, at that moment, that you could never really understand women…you could try but you'd inevitably be wrong. Should he have bought her a ring or not? He wasn't sure he'd be able to get out of this one unscathed but he needed to at least say something.

"I didn't get you a ring because we haven't really discussed our future yet. And I know you…I know that you would definitely need for us to have a conversation or two before you could jump into something like that." He looked at her for some sign that she wasn't going to hang him right about now. "Are you disappointed?"

"No. No, of course not." She sounded less disconcerted, more like she understood. "That's good. I mean…not that **that** would be bad…well…I mean it wouldn't be good now…what I mean is..."

Daniel had to laugh. "I know what you mean." He interrupted, putting an end to her ranting.

She looked up into his eyes and then back down at her hands. "So…maybe we should talk about it then…about us…in the future." She was bashful.

Daniel reached across and grabbed her hand. "I love you Betty. I definitely want to talk about that."

"Great…I do too." She flashed him the biggest smile. "Maybe we should talk about it tomorrow night."

"Sure." He smiled.

He was mildly amused that he'd just made a **date** to have a **discussion** about his potential future with his girlfriend of five months. It was so very…Betty.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's notes: Sorry for the delay...I didn't mean to tease. I had the story basically complete when I posted the first 5 chapters but then when I was proof reading I discovered that I hated one part. I had to rewrite it and as I was doing that, real life got in the way. I'm still not happy with the section, but decided to stop obsessing. It is, after all, just for fun; I'm not trying to win a Pulitzer or anything.  
_

_Another thing...(this will make more sense as you read farther into the story) I have no idea how much the Meades would be worth...in my head they are stinking rich...and once you're that rich it's just a bunch of zeros on the end and doesn't mean that much to me. I also know that a million dollars doesn't stretch as far as it used to. ;) _

_I hope you enjoy. If you do enjoy let me know. If you don't...well...I'm a big girl you can let me know that too...as long as you do it nicely with the intent of improving__ my writing. _

* * *

It was Christmas night and Betty and Daniel were in the living room, in the light of the Christmas tree.

It had been a long, but very enjoyable, two days. They'd spent Christmas Eve at the Suarez house. They'd had a great meal with Hilda, Bobby, Justin and Betty's dad. Afterward, Justin had put the Angel that had been made by Betty's mom on the top of the tree. They had gone to the Midnight Mass service at Ignacio's church. Hilda, Bobby and Justin were all staying over as well, so Daniel slept on the couch. He had almost had to fight Justin for it because Justin had insisted that Daniel take his room – something about it being hard on an old person's back when they have to sleep on a sofa. Daniel was not impressed at Justin's comment and then refused to sleep anywhere but the couch. Daniel couldn't remember the last time he slept on a couch...probably some frat party in college. In the morning they had exchanged presents before getting ready to go into the mansion in Manhattan.

Daniel's mom had invited Betty's entire family over for Christmas dinner. Daniel had dreaded it. He never knew what kind of a mood Alexis could be in and she could be quite the snob under the right circumstances. The dinner at his mom's had actually been enjoyable. Alexis had been more than civil…she'd bordered on friendly. She had spoken companionably with Betty's family and even complimented Daniel on the bracelet he'd given Betty for Christmas. Betty had loved the bracelet. In fact she hadn't taken it off – Daniel smiled at the thought.

A few nights ago, Betty and Daniel had had their conversation about their potential future together and it had gone really well. They were both on the same page regarding kids and being open about which city their careers might take them to. And they had decided that there was no need to rush ahead too quickly although they were definitely headed in that direction. Daniel now felt relieved knowing exactly where they stood and he no longer worried that he'd freak her out if he slipped up one day and casually mentioned that he hoped their kids had her fantastic sense of humour…or her brilliant smile…or her incredibly forgiving, warm heart…or her perfect olive skin…not that he'd been thinking those things...very much.

It had been one of the strangest conversations that Daniel had ever had. And that was saying something considering his transsexual sibling, his alcoholic mother, and his illegitimate, secret, alcoholic half-brother. The conversation itself wasn't that strange, what was strange was the fact that he, Daniel Meade, was having it at all. That was a huge testament to the influence Betty Suarez had been in his life over the past four years.

Now they were sitting in Ignacio's living room. Daniel had come back to the Suarez house. He was going to spend the evening there. He was aware that his allotted evenings at Betty's house were coming to an end but the day had been so perfect with Betty that he couldn't bring himself to end it early. He was able to sleep in a bed tonight because Hilda, Bobby and Justin had gone home. Not the bed he would have chosen if it was up to him…but at least not the couch.

Daniel was leaning against the cushion in the corner of the sofa and Betty was snuggled up against him.

"I think that was the best Christmas I've ever had." Daniel said sincerely.

Betty smiled up at him. "Better than the Christmas when you were in college and your parents bought you that Maserati?" Betty teased him.

Daniel pretended to think about it for a minute. "That **was** a pretty good Christmas." He joked.

Betty laughed and she continued teasing. "What about that Christmas you spent in Rome with those twins…"

"Betty!" He was a little horrified. She really knew way too much. How did she know about that anyway? Probably some conversation he'd had with Becks when she was in ear shot - back in the early days she'd been his assistant. Had there been a time when he barely noticed Betty was in the room? He found that hard to believe. He realized that Betty had probably overheard a lot of conversations he wished she hadn't.

Betty laughed; obviously satisfied with his reaction to her comment. Then she said sincerely "I think this was one of the best one's I've ever had too."

She kissed him softly. Her lips were warm and inviting. Daniel slipped his hand gently under her blouse and his fingers lightly caressed the small of her back. His kiss deepened and he pulled her closer.

"Daniel…" She protested halfheartedly. Daniel could tell she didn't really want him to stop but sensible Betty was coming to the forefront. There really was no point getting worked up when there wasn't going to be any follow through.

He smiled at her a little mischievously and moved his hand from her back up to the nape of her neck where he started alternating between playing softly with her hair and caressing her neck. Daniel knew Betty too well and he knew how sensitive her neck was. He kissed her cheek – it was flushed and warm. He lightly nibbled her earlobe and she quivered. If this two week drought was going to drive him crazy then he was taking her with him - either that or maybe she'd finally cave in.

She slowly and reluctantly sat up. She knew what he was doing and she gave him a look.

"What?" He asked innocently.

She shook her head at him, sighing deeply. "You are bad." She said.

"Bad in a good way, right?"

"Bad in a bad way. We can't do anything…here." She was adamant. "Papi's just upstairs…and he's kind of a light sleeper."

"You're right." He agreed. "It's not like we could get away with it anyway." He was baiting her.

Betty knew she was going to regret it but she asked anyway. "What do you mean?"

Daniel smirked at her and whispered "You know…because you're so…**expressive**." He emphasized the last word.

Betty was mortified. Her eyes opened wide in shock and her face went a dark shade of burgundy. "What! I'm not…What?"

Daniel laughed; her reaction was even better than he had anticipated. He couldn't resist teasing her mercilessly, mainly because she was so delicious when she blushed. Besides, Betty gave as good as she got when it came to teasing.

She smacked him on the shoulder.

"I think we should go to bed." She said getting up off of the couch. She was still flustered by his comment.

"Great idea." Daniel agreed smiling

"Separately." She gave him a sideways glance.

A little while later, Daniel lay awake in the bed that used to be Hilda's. He couldn't stop thinking about Betty just one door down the hall – on the opposite side of the wall he was staring at actually. He pictured her hugging her pillow, her beautiful brown hair a tousled mess, probably covering her face. She was sleeping on her right side – he knew – she always slept on her right side. She would be so warm and soft and comfortable.

He couldn't stand it anymore. He got up out of bed and tiptoed over to the door opening it stealthily. A little nightly visit couldn't hurt – completely innocent, just cuddling. Of course, if **she** couldn't control **her** urges then that would hardly be considered his fault…

He quietly and slowly walked out into the hall. He started heading to Betty's door when suddenly he heard a noise from Betty's dad's room. He panicked a little. They were adults, he realized, but if Ignacio was as "old school" as Betty claimed then he would hate it to appear that he was disrespecting the man in his own house; especially because he liked Ignacio so much. He looked left and then right and then quickly ducked into the bathroom.

He exhaled when he heard the footsteps heading down the stairs. After waiting a minute to make sure Ignacio was in the kitchen, he quietly tiptoed down the hall toward Betty's room again. He was almost there when he heard the footsteps on the stairs again. It was too late to quietly and quickly open Betty's door so he jumped the other direction, into the open doorway. He realized, too late, that it was Ignacio's room. _Crap!_ The next thing he knew, Betty's dad was standing in front of him - glass of water in hand. Ignacio instinctively yelled and threw his water in Daniel's face. He flicked on the light quickly and Daniel was standing there wet and red faced in his boxers.

"Uh…are you lost, son?" A startled Ignacio asked once he'd absorbed the situation.

"Um…yeah." Daniel replied. "I was looking for the washroom." That was believable, right?

"Wrong door." Ignacio stated. "It's the other one."

"Right." Daniel nodded.

Betty's door opened and she looked out a little dazed. "What's going on?" She asked sleepily.

"Daniel just got a little lost, Mija. It's nothing to worry about."

Betty eyed Daniel suspiciously. He looked at her a little sheepishly, and then headed back to Hilda's room.

"Uh…Daniel…" Ignacio pointed to the washroom door.

"Thanks." Daniel replied as he turned and went into the bathroom.

Ignacio shook his head. "For a man who grew up in a mansion, he sure has trouble finding his way around a house."

Betty just smiled and went back into her room.

The next morning at breakfast Daniel felt a little awkward. He wasn't sure if Ignacio had believed his story. He was pretty certain Betty would see through it.

Betty hadn't come downstairs yet. Ignacio was cooking at the stove.

"Good morning, Daniel." Ignacio said warmly. If he hadn't believed him at least he didn't appear to be holding it against him.

"Good morning Mr. Suarez." Daniel replied, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Daniel, it's Ignacio…please." He said handing him a plate of eggs.

Daniel smiled and nodded. "Sure…Ignacio"

"You know, Daniel…one day when you have your own daughters you'll understand what I'm about to say a little better." He started.

Daniel suddenly felt like he wasn't going to be able to swallow his eggs.

Ignacio continued "You bring them home from the hospital, tiny and sweet and the next thing you know they're little girls - so beautiful and innocent. Before you know it they are women…dating men, moving to different countries, making their own decisions, even running magazines. But as their father, they are always still your little girls…do you know what I mean?" Daniel figured that was rhetorical. Ignacio continued. "So as their father you have this illusion of them as they used to be. And even though you know that is not exactly who they are anymore – you aren't naïve - in your own mind you want to keep them that way." He placed his hand gently on Daniel's shoulder. "And you appreciate…are grateful even…when others allow you to keep them that way and don't shatter that illusion…especially in your own house. Do you understand what I'm saying, son?"

Although much of what Ignacio said was vague, Daniel did grasp a few key points: First, Ignacio was happily in denial about Daniel and Betty sleeping together and wanted to stay that way. Second, he wasn't going to try sneaking into Betty's bed in the middle of the night anymore.

Just then Betty came into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mija."

"Good morning, Papi." She gave him a kiss.

"Good morning, Daniel." There was a noticeable lack of a kiss.

"Eggs?" Ignacio asked his daughter.

"Thanks." Betty smiled taking the plate from him. She poured herself a cup of coffee.

The three sat in a somewhat comfortable silence eating their breakfast, each reading a section of the paper. When they were finished Betty started clearing the dishes and Daniel and Ignacio got up to help.

"Daniel and I have this, Papi." She said, indicating the tidying up.

Ignacio left the kitchen to tend to other things. When she was sure her dad was out of earshot she smacked Daniel on his arm.

"Ow!" He grimaced; she hit pretty hard.

"Lost? Really?" She was incredulous. "What were you thinking?"

He looked at her a little embarrassed. "Honestly, I was just thinking how much warmer your bed would be than mine."

She shook her head but she was smiling. "Do you think my dad bought it?"

"Well, he just gave me an interesting lecture about not shattering a father's illusion of his daughter as a little girl, so I'm guessing…No?" He said the "no" as if he was asking Betty her opinion.

Betty shook her head again, this time rolling her eyes as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Two days after Christmas, Betty and Daniel were in Manhattan catching some boxing week sales. Betty generally wasn't a big shopper – she had to be in the mood for it. But sales – particularly boxing week sales – put her in the mood. She was carrying a handful of bags. Daniel hadn't done too badly either. It was approaching lunch time and Daniel was meeting Alexis and his mom for lunch.

Daniel was acting weird and over protective – like he didn't want to leave her shopping in Manhattan in the middle of the day.

"I'll be fine." Betty insisted. "I did grow up in New York, remember? And I used to work and live in Manhattan too..." Her tone was of slight frustration. What was with him today? It was like he didn't want to leave her on her own.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call a cab for you, so you can go home?"

"Daniel…stop already." She was getting slightly annoyed that he was treating her like a child. "You're doing that obsessive thing you do sometimes. I'm from Queens – New York is my "crib"." She made a fist with her baby finger and thumb sticking out.

Daniel shook his head at her. "Don't do that."

She continued. "I just want to hit a few more stores. Then I'll take the subway home. Go…Meet your mom and Alexis. Stop worrying."

"I'll call you tonight." He said, kissing her good-bye. He was staying in Manhattan tonight.

He walked the few blocks to the restaurant where he was meeting Alexis and his mom. He knew Betty was right – he was doing his obsessive thing – but he couldn't help it. He couldn't shake this feeling of dread that had come over him. Perhaps it was because he was spending the day with Alexis…dread and Alexis kind of went hand in hand.

They were meeting at an elegant restaurant in mid-town. Alexis just wasn't the sandwich shop type.

Daniel walked in and noticed them sitting at a table near the front of the restaurant.

"Hi Mom." He kissed his mother on the cheek. "Alexis." He gave her a half hug.

"It's about time you arrived, Danny. We were beginning to think maybe you wouldn't show."

Daniel ignored her tone. "Yeah…sorry about that. Betty and I were doing a bit of shopping."

"How is Betty, darling?" Claire Meade asked.

"She's great." Daniel smiled.

"How many butterfly belts and sequined broaches did you find in all the Boxing Day sales?" Alexis was in fine form today. Daniel gave her a threatening look but didn't say anything.

Alexis continued. "You know I really can't stop thinking about how ironic your relationship with Betty is. Dad hired her because he figured she was the last woman on earth you would sleep with. And by now you've probably slept with her more than all the other assistants combined." She smirked. "Dad would be rolling in his grave."

Daniel wasn't sure if her smirk was because she thought her comment had been particularly witty and biting or whether she was amused at the image of Bradford rolling in his grave. Either way, he was starting to get annoyed.

"Alexis…" Daniel started, but Claire placed a hand on her son's arm.

"Alexis, that's quite enough." Claire interjected. "I thought the three of us could have a nice day together."

"Have you been drinking again, Mom?" Alexis asked.

The rest of the meal was at least civil. As long as they stayed in neutral territory, Alexis was polite. Daniel assumed she was particularly moody because she had come to New York without D.J. He was staying in France with his grandparents this Christmas.

After lunch they went to the theater to see a show that Claire had been wanting to see for months. She was particularly nostalgic – they hadn't done that together since Daniel and Alexis were kids.

Daniel survived the day and when they got back to the mansion he decided to give Betty a call.

"Hello?" Ignacio answered the phone.

"Hi Mr….uh…Ignacio. Is Betty there?" Daniel asked.

"Oh…hello Daniel. No, she's not home yet. Can I get her to call you when she gets in?"

"She's not home?" Daniel questioned. He'd left her hours ago and she said she only wanted to pick up a few more things before she went home.

Ignacio heard the worry in Daniel's voice. "Don't worry, Daniel. Betty's very used to New York City; she grew up here. I'm sure she's fine. She probably went over to Hilda's or maybe Marc and Amanda's."

"Yeah…of course." Daniel felt a little relieved. "Just tell her I called when she gets home."

"Certainly." Ignacio replied.

Daniel decided to try Betty on her cell. There was no answer. Maybe her cell was dead; but it wasn't like Betty to let that happen – she had a routine. Daniel went back downstairs. His mom was in the living room reading. She looked up when he approached and could tell that something was bothering him.

"What's wrong Daniel?" She asked.

"Hmm?" he was lost in thought.

"What's wrong, dear? Your frown lines are going to become trenches if you keep that face."

"Betty isn't home yet."

"And you're worried about her? She did grow up in New York, Daniel." He wondered why everyone kept reminding him of that. "She has a lot of friends. Hilda lives in Manhattan now doesn't she?"

"I know Mom…but her cell phone is off or dead too which is very odd for Betty."

"I think you're being a little paranoid, dear. Betty is a grown woman – born and raised in Queens. She can handle herself in the city. Why don't you relax a little bit – watch some television or something?"

Daniel figured he might as well distract himself for what it was worth.

Two and a half hours later, Betty still hadn't called. He wanted to call her house again. Maybe Ignacio had forgotten to give her the message, or maybe she had just for gotten to call. He was just about to pick up the phone when his cell phone rang. He looked at the display – it was Betty's house. He sighed, relieved.

"Hey Betty." He answered.

"Daniel?" It was Hilda.

"Hilda?" Daniel was confused.

"Betty's still not home. Is she with you?" There was a rising panic in Hilda's tone.

"No Hilda…what do you mean she's not home?" It was getting pretty late. Daniel felt all the dread he'd been feeling earlier in the day return with a vengeance.

"I mean she hasn't come home yet." Hilda didn't think she was speaking a foreign language.

"Maybe she's with Marc and Amanda?" Daniel suggested.

"We called them. Marc said he had a date over and Amanda is out with Tyler.

"What do you want me to do Hilda?" Daniel was really worried now.

"Can you come over?"

"Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"What's going on, darling?" Claire asked, concerned. She had overheard Daniel's half of the conversation.

"Betty's not home yet. I'm going over there."

"Do you want me to come with you, dear?" Claire was worried too.

"No…you should stay Mom, in case Betty calls here or something."

When Daniel arrived at the house Hilda was almost on the verge of frantic but Bobby was managing to keep her sane.

"It's all right Hilda. I'm sure she's fine. She probably ran into friends and lost track of the time." Daniel noticed that Bobby had the ability to remain calm in a crisis – something he was very grateful for right about now.

"Daniel!" Hilda rushed over to him as soon as she saw him at the door.

Ignacio was in the kitchen. He came out when he heard Hilda say Daniel's name.

"Have you heard from her?" Ignacio asked, oven mitts on his hands and his apron around his waist. Daniel thought it was a strange sight especially considering the circumstances.

"Grandpa cooks when he's upset." Justin explained, noticing Daniel's expression.

Daniel nodded his head, understanding. "No…I haven't heard from her, and I've tried calling her cell but it's either off or the battery is dead."

"That's not like Aunt Betty at all." Justin commented, shaking his head slowly. "Well it's not!" he said when everyone looked at him.

"I'm going to call the police." Daniel said. He went into the kitchen.

"Maybe I can go out and look for her." Bobby suggested. "I'll take Daniel when he gets off the phone."

Hilda nodded. They heard Daniel on the phone, his voice getting louder.

"…what do you mean there's nothing you can do? …don't tell me to calm down." He was very agitated. "yes…yes…thank you." He hung up the phone and walked into the living room, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"They're sending someone over to ask some questions. They can't issue an official missing person report but they can get the word out among the officers on the street."

Half an hour later a young police officer arrived. He looked like he was fresh out of the academy. He was ushered into the living room and Ignacio went into the kitchen to get him a coffee.

"So who was the last person to see…"

"Betty." Hilda filled in the name for him.

"Right…who was the last person to see Betty?"

"I guess that was me." Daniel said. He felt like he was sitting still but the world was spinning all around him. It was making him nauseated.

"I left her at the corner of Madison and 51st Street. We were shopping and I had to go meet someone for lunch."

"How was Betty's state of mind when you left her? Had you been fighting?"

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "No…no she was fine. I asked her if she wanted me to get her a cab but she wanted to shop more before she went home." He paused, tears of worry and guilt pooling in his eyes. He spoke softly, as if to himself "I should have gotten her a cab." He was feeling physically ill. If anything happened to Betty he would never be able to forgive himself.

Ignacio spoke, placing his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "It's not your fault, son."

The officer spoke again. "Is it like Betty to behave spontaneously or to go somewhere…say…out of town without telling anyone?"

"Are you kidding?" Justin spoke up.

"No." Ignacio interjected. "Betty's not like that."

"Has anything strange happened in the past few days – odd encounters, strange behaviours – anything like that?"

Hilda, Justin and Ignacio looked at each other shaking their heads like they couldn't think of anything.

"Wait..." Bobby said. Everyone looked at him. He continued. "There was that strange car parked across the street for the past couple of days." He turned to Hilda "Remember I mentioned it to you?"

Hilda gave him a look and then addressed the officer. "Don't mind him. My husband notices strange things and sometimes makes them out to be more than they are."

"Hilda…" Bobby was insistent "I'm telling you, I've never seen that car in the neighbourhood before."

"So someone got a new car…" Hilda couldn't believe Bobby thought this was relevant.

Bobby turned to the officer stressing his point. "It's not the type of car you see in this neighbourhood very often."

"It may be nothing." The officer interjected. "But it never hurts to look into these things."

Bobby gave Hilda his "I told you" look. The officer took down all the details Bobby could remember.

"Can anybody think of anything else?"

"Um…" Daniel was hesitant to mention it but seeing as Bobby brought up the strange car, it couldn't hurt…it's not like he was accusing anyone. "There was this guy on the flight." Now everyone was looking at Daniel. "His name was Greg…no Glen…I think it was Glen. He was an investment banker. Apparently he'd had some interesting clients but he wasn't giving any details. Betty was asking him all sorts of questions to see if there was anything interesting she could put in the magazine. You know Betty, always looking for a story. I know it's stupid…but I didn't like the way he was looking at her." Everyone was quiet. "It's probably not relevant." He added at the end.

"Can you think of anything else about this gentleman that might be helpful - maybe a last name or some other details?" The officer asked.

Daniel wished now that he'd paid a little bit more attention to what Betty had been saying about the guy. He took a deep breath. "That's really all I remember. His last name didn't come up. Oh…he was bald and had wire rimmed glasses."

"Great." The officer finished writing down Daniel's details. "I'll go call this in and we can start by checking the hospitals."

Hilda gasped and sat down hard on the couch, her mind reeling. Bobby's thought was: _Stupid, insensitive young cop, I'd punch him out if we didn't need his help so badly. At least he had the decency not to mention the morgue._ Daniel was thinking that the hospital was actually the better of the many scenarios his mind was conceiving at the moment, and would it be rude to hurl in the planter under the window. Ignacio wanted to go back into the kitchen…at least he could control the empanadas.

"Don't worry…if she'd gone in by ambulance, the hospital would have called you by now. But she may be sitting in an emergency room waiting to be attended to with a less serious injury." It seemed he was trying to ease their minds a bit – that is, until he said the next part. "One more thing: If she was kidnapped for ransom, you will likely hear from the perpetrators in the next twelve hours."

"Kidnapped!" Justin screamed, obviously upset.

"Why would anyone take Betty for money, we don't have any money?" Ignacio was perplexed.

Everyone looked at Daniel. For some weird reason, that explanation made the most sense. Betty wouldn't be lost in New York…she definitely would never have gone somewhere for this long without contacting her family…and if she was in the hospital, unless she had a head injury of some sort, she most certainly would have called them. This time Daniel really was going to be sick; he ran upstairs to the washroom.

After ridding his stomach of his pretentious, overpriced lunch, he sat on the floor with his head against the cold porcelain; the room was spinning. This was his fault…all his fault. Betty's family must hate him…how could they not…he hated himself for this. Whatever the kidnappers wanted he would give them – millions, Mode, the entire Meade shares – he'd give it all.

Ignacio knocked on the door and then pushed it open.

"I'm sorry…Mr. Suarez…I'm so sorry." Daniel just stared blankly at the floor, his stomach writhing again and his head aching from holding back the tears and the screams he wanted to let out.

"Daniel…" Ignacio assumed a spot on the floor across from Daniel. "First of all, we don't know that Betty's been kidnapped. Secondly…even if she has…you have to know: it's not your fault."

"Of course it's my fault. She'd be safe if it wasn't for me."

"We don't know that Daniel. We need to be strong now, son…as a family." Daniel was touched he would consider him like that. Ignacio continued. "We need to figure this out and find Betty. There's no point blaming ourselves or wondering "what if" right now."

Daniel realized Ignacio was right. He couldn't fall apart right now while Betty was…God only knows where. He needed to be strong for Betty's family and for Betty and not become a liability because he was coming unglued. He picked himself up and then helped Ignacio off the floor. Turning to the sink, he ran the cold water, rinsed his mouth and splashed some on his face.

They headed back downstairs. Hilda was still sitting on the sofa but she had started softly crying. Justin and Bobby were sitting on either side of her trying to give her some comfort. They all looked up when the two men came down the stairs. Daniel took one look at Hilda's distraught face and thought he was going to hurl again but managed to get his emotions somewhat under control.

"Hey Daniel…you wanna go for a ride, man?" Bobby suggested. "Maybe we could go back to where you last saw Betty and see if we can come up with something helpful."

"Uh…" Daniel looked around at everyone, wondering what they might think if he bailed right now, even if it was to try to get some more information. Ignacio nodded at him, indicating he thought it might be a good idea. "Sure."

"Does anyone have a recent picture of Betty?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…there should be one on my cell phone." Daniel said remembering the pictures he had snapped of her when they went out for dinner in London a couple of weeks ago. Even as he was looking through the photos on his phone for one that might help, he wondered if maybe Bobby had seen a few too many cop shows.

They headed into Manhattan only after Daniel had been assured by Ignacio that he would call Daniel's cell if they heard anything…from anyone. The entire ride there Bobby was calm and reassuring. He didn't chatter aimlessly but spoke often enough to prevent Daniel from falling into the downward negative thought spiral he was accustomed to in times of crisis – the very spiral that Betty had so often rescued him from.

As they were driving, Daniel realized that he probably had very little in common with this man from Queens who grew up not far from Betty's childhood home. Bobby was from a tight knit, loving family where cousins were as close as siblings and distant relatives were considered "aunts" and "uncles". Daniel's own siblings weren't even as close as siblings and he couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to his actual aunts and uncles. And, although Bobby's family wasn't underprivileged by any stretch, he certainly wouldn't have grown up with the luxuries that Daniel did (few people had). Bobby was tough, streetwise and had barely finished high school. Daniel had manicures, thousand dollar suits and a Harvard education. But he found himself liking Bobby more and more despite how different they were. And he was growing increasingly thankful to have him here tonight with his calm demeanor and his determined attitude; Bobby was definitely someone you wanted on your team.

They parked the car near the area that Daniel had said good-bye to Betty and they started walking down the street. It was Bobby's idea to see if there might be someone around who may have noticed something or who might recognize the photo of Betty. Unfortunately, as it was getting fairly late, many of the shops were closed and most of the street vendors had packed up. There was a coffee shop open so they decided to ask there.

"I won't be much help." The girl behind the counter said, when they approached her. "I just started work a few minutes ago." Daniel felt defeated before they even really got started. The girl continued "But Chris is still here, and he's been here all day." She went into the back for a minute and came back with a co-worker who Daniel assumed was Chris.

Bobby showed him the picture on Daniel's cell phone.

"Yeah…I saw her." Chris said. "She was in here this afternoon. She was very friendly. She said she liked my hat." He was wearing a colourful fedora; it certainly sounded like Betty. "I remember her because one minute she was chatty and friendly and then within just a few minutes she was sick or something. She could barely stand up by herself. Her boyfriend or whoever he was said she was sick and must be having some kind of reaction to her medication. He helped her up and took her out to his car."

Daniel and Bobby looked at each other. Daniel felt sick all over again.

"What kind of car? Did you notice?" Bobby asked him.

"Not really. It was some kind of luxury sedan or something. A nice looking car…"

"What did the…uh…boyfriend look like." Bobby asked.

"Balding…glasses…a pretty tall guy." Chris said.

Daniel knew before Chris had even finished talking that it was the man from the airplane. Bobby called the police immediately.

A few minutes later the police thanked Bobby for the information but warned him that the public shouldn't be doing the job of the police…that it was dangerous. And Bobby thanked the police and reminded them - not so eloquently - that **he** had to do "their job" because **they** weren't, as technically Betty hadn't been "missing" long enough to be considered missing even though she damn well was and that he would, most certainly, look for any member of his family regardless of whether it was advisable by the police or not…all of it speckled with a few expletives that Daniel had never even heard before. And for the second, or maybe it was the third time that evening, Daniel was extremely grateful for Bobby Talercio. On top of that, of course, Daniel made a mental note to never, ever incur Bobby's wrath for any reason – he was scarier than Hilda.

They were heading back to the car when Daniel's phone rang. Bobby was still holding it so he gave it back to Daniel. It was Ignacio. They had received a strange phone call. Someone definitely had Betty – this no longer news to Bobby and Daniel. The "someone" wanted money, a lot of it…ten million dollars to be precise. They were not to contact the police. They were to bring the money to an abandoned industrial building in Queens and meet the kidnappers there tomorrow night. Daniel felt like he was in a bad movie.


	8. Chapter 8

It turns out that all of Bobby's frustration from the evening had culminated, spilling out in that phone call with the police. Actually, he wasn't as hostile toward the authorities as Daniel had assumed based on that one conversation. In fact, one of Bobby's cousins was a detective and now that they had proof that Betty had indeed been kidnapped, they had all the cooperation of the police and the detectives that they could have wanted. They didn't meet at the Suarez house though…they needed it to look like they weren't involving the cops. Instead they met at Bobby's parents' house.

Bobby's cousin, Antonio, was a pretty reputable detective and had lots of experience. This wasn't the first kidnapping for ransom he'd been involved with although this particular ransom was considerably more than the others. He advised them that kidnappings for ransom were one of the "better" kidnappings to be involved with – the outcomes were usually more positive than in other scenarios. Somehow, at that moment, Daniel did not find that information particularly comforting.

A plan was arranged for Daniel to go to the bank and get as much out as he could. Of course, Daniel didn't have that much money available in cash so he had had to call both his mother and Alexis and ask for their help. Between the three of them they had managed to scrape up the cash which had been nothing short of amazing to Bobby and Hilda, if not to Justin.

"Bobby…what if he doesn't have the money?" Hilda had fretted.

"Of course he's got the money." Justin had said. "Do you see the suits he wears? He must have at least a dozen in his closet and they're worth at least five grand each. Plus his shirts are easily six hundred a piece, not to mention the ties or his watches…let's not forget his watches." Another thought occurred to him and he gasped. "Ooooo…and those shoes of his!"

"It's ten **million** dollars, Justin." Hilda had said, emphasizing the million. "Do you understand how much money that is?"

"Mom… He's one of the heirs to Meade Publications, one of the biggest publishing empires in the United States. I'm surprised he doesn't own a private jet."

"Really?" Bobby had said, still lost in something Justin had mentioned. "You can spend six hundred dollars on a shirt?" He looked down at his own forty dollar bargain.

It was arranged that Daniel would take the money to the location. At first the police were adamant that they would not endanger the public that way – they would have someone dressed up to look like Daniel. But Daniel had insisted. His argument was that obviously, the perpetrator knew exactly what Daniel Meade looked like. There was no way Betty would have name dropped on a plane with a complete stranger. In hindsight, that's what the creepy stares were all about. The guy on the plane had recognized Daniel and was trying to ascertain Betty's relationship with him. He'd obviously pieced it together, making Betty a target.

Daniel had never been so frightened in his life; not for himself – well, maybe a little for himself – but mostly for Betty. The police had wire tapped him and he had a communication devise in his ear so they could talk to him. It was all very cloak and dagger.

When it was the appropriate time he drove Bobby's car to the abandoned warehouse. He sat in the safety of the car for a few moments trying to collect his nerve. He climbed out of the car and pulled the briefcase with the money in it out of the trunk. He looked at his watch: right on time. The police told him to stay in a relatively lit area of the parking lot. They were stationed not far away in an old van with all of the communication devises set up.

Daniel waited and waited. The minutes seemed like hours. His heart was pounding, his stomach was a huge knot, and his hands were sweating profusely. He was just about losing all of his hope when a car pulled up and a man got out. It was the guy from the airplane. And he wasn't even trying to disguise himself. Daniel immediately wondered if this guy even knew what he was doing.

"Mr. Meade." He greeted him. "Nice to see you again. I assume you have the money."

"Yeah."

"_Ask him how you can know Betty is safe." _The voice in his ear said.

Daniel practically jumped out of his shoes at the sound of the voice. His heart started racing faster – he was surprised that was even possible. It was hard to believe this guy standing across from him couldn't hear the voice in his ear. But he didn't give Daniel any indication that he had.

"Uh…" Daniel swallowed. There was so much saliva – where was it coming from? "How do I know Betty's safe?" He asked with as much confidence as he could muster.

The man took out his cell phone and scrolled to a picture of Betty lying on a floor leaning up against a cement wall with a blanket over her. Was it a basement? Daniel couldn't tell. All he could tell was she looked alive; her eyes were glazed over, but open. Unless…a thought occurred to him...people sometimes died with their eyes open. He felt sick all over again.

The man spoke. "Trust me. She's alive - for now."

Daniel wondered if the man realized how absurd it sounded for him to ask for anyone's trust at this moment. And for a brief second – the result of anger and adrenaline - it was all Daniel could do to restrain himself from pounding the man senseless. But he calmed himself with the knowledge that that was not part of the plan and might actually hinder the opportunity to get Betty back safely.

"_Ask him where you can find Betty."_ The ear voice said.

"Where can I find Betty?" Daniel reiterated the question.

"I'll bring her here in an hour." The man said.

"_Give him the briefcase."_ The ear voice said.

Daniel handed over the money. Man…he hoped the police knew what they were doing. The man opened the case just long enough to see if there was money inside, turned and walked back to his car and got in and took off.

At that point Daniel started to panic. The man was taking off and the idea that he had taken him on his word to bring Betty back in an hour seemed naïve, at best. He thought the police would arrest him or something once he handed the money over, but right now they didn't seem to be doing anything.

Thankfully, right when he was about to loose it, his ear spoke.

"_That was very good, Mr. Meade."_ The ear voice reassured him. _"We're following him now. We don't want to arrest him here. We want him to lead us to Betty." _ Well that was at least a little comforting…but Daniel still felt queasy.

A police car dropped Bobby off only about a minute later. It was arranged that he would drive Daniel home. Presumably Daniel would be a little too upset after the encounter to drive safely. They collected the equipment from Daniel and then the police left.

"Hey man, you alright?" Bobby asked a visibly shaken Daniel.

"Yeah. I think so." Daniel replied as they walked back to the car. "I didn't really know what to expect but…it wasn't that."

"Don't worry. They know what they are doing." Bobby tried to be reassuring. They got into the car and started driving.

"What if I never see Betty again?" Daniel finally voiced the thought that had been in his head for the past twenty four hours.

"You will." Bobby was confident. "Have a little faith." Bobby patted him on the shoulder.

Faith. Daniel wasn't even sure what that word meant right now.

They went back to the Suarez house. Hilda jumped up from the couch when they entered.

"So…what happened?" She needed to know.

"Well…I handed over the money and the guy took off and then we left." Daniel answered.

"What! What do you mean? Where's Betty?" Hilda didn't understand. Somehow she thought there would be some sort of straight exchange: money for Betty – or something like that.

"It doesn't work that way Hilda." Bobby said, understanding her line of thinking.

"And how do you know how it works…huh?" She asked him "I haven't seen you with a police badge lately." She was obviously very upset and taking it out on Bobby.

He walked over to her and gave her a hug, not taking any of it personally.

"Antonio told me they have to do the exchange of money and then they follow the guy to see if he leads them to Betty. If they arrest him on the spot and he chooses not to talk then they might…" He was going to say "never find Betty" but wisely changed his mind. He continued "uh…they might have a harder time finding her."

The only thing they could do now was wait - so wait they did. Justin flipped on the television to distract everyone. Suzuki was on the Fashion Network doing a live broadcast.

"This just in…" Suzuki said reading the teleprompter. "The lady friend of Daniel Meade – former Editor-in-Chief of Mode magazine and heir to Meade Publications - has been kidnapped. The lady friend in question is apparently his former assistant." _A picture of young Betty, complete with bangs, poncho and glasses askew, appears on the screen. Suzuki shudders._ "Clearly the fashion police should issue an amber alert about that outfit – Yikes! Rumour has it the ransom being asked for is the price of a small island. Given Daniel's history…" _a picture of young Daniel partying it up on the beach with a bunch of models in bikinis appears._ "And his penchant for hanging his assistant turned girlfriend out to dry..." _The iconic picture of Betty's head on the body of a tornado from the tornado girl incident pops up_ "one has to wonder if he might choose the island."

Daniel turned around and walked into the kitchen.

"Could you turn that thing off, Justin." Hilda said with agitation.

Daniel sat in the kitchen, literally expecting the waiting to kill him. Surely any moment he'd get an excruciating pain in his chest and his heart would stop. Or maybe he would feel his throat close up and he'd be unable to breath and suffocate. Or maybe all of that was just wishful thinking so he didn't have to endure what he was feeling right now.

Hilda came into the kitchen. "How are you holding up?" She asked him placing her hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her. Her eyes were swollen and ringed with red. "I should be asking you that." He said.

"You gotta just ignore that stuff on the t.v." She said hoping to make him feel better.

"I know. I'm used to it, Hilda." Daniel assured her.

She sat down with him at the table. She was quiet for a minute and then she said "I don't know why this is happening to Betty. She doesn't deserve this. She's such a good person." She was obviously trying not to cry.

Daniel put his hand on hers.

Hilda kept talking. "I keep thinking about what she must be going through…how scared she must be. Maybe this guy who has her is even a pervert—"

"Stop Hilda!" Daniel said, more forcefully than he intended. He needed her to stop going on, for his sake as much as hers. He softened a little and said "Thinking that way is not helpful." He didn't know when he suddenly became the expert on positive thinking.

She looked at him apologetically. "Thank you." She said.

"For what?" He asked her.

"For the ransom…for being here."

Daniel scoffed. "You do realize if it wasn't for me you wouldn't need the ransom in the first place, right?"

"Daniel…it's not your fault some crazy person took Betty."

"Isn't it?" He said sarcastically.

"No. You have to stop blaming yourself. Betty would never let you hear the end of it if she knew you where doing that." He knew Hilda was right…oh how he wished she was here to tell him off.

"You're good for her…you know that?" Hilda said changing the topic slightly.

Daniel looked up at her, slightly confused.

"She can be a little…intense sometimes. She's always trying to do the right thing…be the right kind of person…be the best daughter… the best sister… the best Editor. She puts a lot of pressure on herself. You bring out the lighthearted side of her. You make her have fun and laugh. You accept her as she is."

"She's amazing as she is." Daniel replied, wondering how it would be possible not to accept Betty the way she is. "Besides…**she's **good for **me**." Daniel argued.

"Yeah…well…everyone knows that." Hilda said seriously.

They both got up and went back into the living room to join the others…Justin had changed the channel.

Around about an hour and a half after the money drop, Bobby slipped into the kitchen and quietly called Antonio.

"Hey man, it's me. What's going on? I thought we would hear something by now." There was a bit of a pause and then Bobby exclaimed "What!" He immediately brought his voice down a decibel or two. "What do you mean?" There was another pause. And Bobby sighed heavily. "So what do we do now?" There was, yet again, another pause – this one quite a bit longer - and then finally he said "Alright." He hung up and turned around.

Ignacio, Daniel and Hilda were all standing in the doorway of the kitchen behind him, obviously eavesdropping. Bobby swallowed hard as he looked into their hopeful faces. He gathered all the courage he could before he said "They didn't find Betty."


	9. Chapter 9

Those four words, "They didn't find Betty" echoed in Daniel's brain until he thought his head would implode.

Hilda went ballistic. "What the hell do you mean they didn't find her? I thought that was how it was supposed to work. You said Antonio said they'd follow the guy so they could find her. Daniel was supposed to give the guy the money and then the cops were supposed to follow him to his house or wherever. Then the cops go in and bring Betty home." The volume of Hilda's voice increased with each word she spoke so that by the end of her rant she was practically screaming. Bobby did the only thing he could do and that was to pull her into a tight embrace as she completely broke down. Bobby's arms were the only things preventing her from collapsing to the floor.

Ignacio turned around and went back into the living room. He sat down on the couch not saying a word. Daniel watched him for a moment, the complete despair evident on the older man's face, as Ignacio's eyes filled with tears. Daniel's heart broke for the man. His own emotions were hard enough to bear but he could only just imagine the pain Ignacio was feeling – Betty was his daughter, his little girl - Daniel recalled the conversation from just a few mornings ago. He realized Ignacio was probably dealing with emotions on a level that the rest of the house couldn't even begin to understand.

He went over and sat beside him on the couch, placing his hand on Ignacio's back. He knew there probably wasn't anything he could say at that moment that would bring any comfort but surely Ignacio needed to know that he wasn't alone – as completely alone as he probably felt.

Justin hadn't heard the conversation in the kitchen but he could tell by everyone's reactions that whatever had transpired was not good. He did the only thing he could think of at that moment and he got up – his own tears threatening to overflow - and put on the kettle. He didn't have a lot of experience in life at his young age, but he did know that there was something comforting about a cup of tea.

A few minutes later the tea was made, Hilda was sitting in a chair with a cup and Justin was bringing one for Daniel and Ignacio.

"They want us to go down to the police station." Bobby said. "Apparently they have the guy in custody and they want to get him to talk. They think the best way for that to happen is for him to see the family." He looked at them almost apologetically and explained. "Look…the idea is that – provided he's not a psychopath - if the guy sees the family then he'll feel guilty enough to tell the cops where Betty is. That, and he'll see Betty as a real person belonging to a loving family…not just a means to an end."

Everyone looked at Bobby like he'd lost his mind.

"I'm just telling you what Antonio said." He defended himself. "You won't have to be in the same room as him. They'll get the guy to watch you through some mirrored window or something."

"I think we can do that for Betty." Ignacio spoke for the first time in quite a long time. A little bit of hope had returned to his voice. Daniel figured that that tiny speck of hope was probably the only thing keeping Ignacio sane right now.

Bobby turned to Daniel and spoke as if he didn't really want to say the next part. "They don't think it would be very helpful if you were there though, man. Sorry. It's something about him only being able to think of the money when he sees you."

Daniel flinched a little. Bobby's comment stung; partly because it the story of his life: Daniel Meade the kid with the money or Daniel Meade the playboy with the money. Growing up in New York had been like that; all people ever saw when they looked at him was the Meade fortune. It wasn't like that in London - nobody really knew him there. He'd been free to reinvent himself without all the prejudice.

He realized that whatever he might be feeling regarding that statement was entirely irrelevant anyway. If it would hurt the chances of getting Betty back if he went, then he would stay away. "I'll…uh…just wait here then I guess." He said.

"We should go over as soon as we can." Bobby said.

Betty's family arrived at the police station about twenty minutes later. Bobby greeted Antonio when they walked into the department.

"Hey man…" He said shaking his hand and patting his arm. "so, you nabbed the guy?"

"Yeah. He's in the back room." Antonio explained. "I'll just get you guys to go into the room over there…" He pointed to an empty room on his right. "and hang out. You really don't need to do anything else. We'll let you know when we're finished."

"I know you can't really mess the guy up without some serious charges against you" Bobby said quietly. "but if you let the guy use the restroom unsupervised…say…in about ten minutes…I'll see what I can do about getting the truth out of him."

Antonio looked at Bobby, unsure whether he was kidding or not. "You know I can't do that." He said just in case Bobby wasn't joking.

"Yeah…I figured as much…you always were a bit of a stickler for the rules, even as a kid." Bobby laughed. Antonio laughed to, relieved that Bobby had been joking…probably.

The perpetrator snapped like a dead twig once he saw Betty's family. It also helped that he was reminded that the charges for kidnapping and forcible confinement were far less serious than the charge of murder that he would have against him should anything happen to Betty while he was refusing to talk. He immediately led the police to Betty's location. The police dispatched the EMS and Betty was taken to the local hospital. As far as the police on the scene could tell, she was unharmed apart from some seriously strong drugs that were in her system keeping her completely incapacitated, and most likely, unaware of the entire event.

Ignacio called Daniel from the police station and told him which hospital to meet them at.

"They found Betty." Ignacio said over the phone. Daniel almost collapsed the sensation was so great - the fear and dread being replaced so quickly by relief and exhaustion that it was like the world's biggest head rush, but all over his body. He sat down in a chair to alleviate the dizziness. "The police on the scene think Betty's ok. She doesn't look like she was hurt at all."

After hearing word, Daniel called his mom.

"She's safe. We're going over to the hospital now. The police think she wasn't hurt at all." Daniel just reiterated the facts.

"Alright dear. We'll meet you there." Claire promised.


	10. Chapter 10

The front of the hospital was a zoo. The news of Betty's kidnapping and rescue had leaked to the paparazzi so there were photographers and reporters all over. Betty's family, Daniel's family and various others were congregated around the waiting area on the floor that Betty had been taken to. They were waiting to find out from the doctors how Betty was. Hilda, Bobby, Justin, Ignacio, Claire, Tyler, Alexis, even Amanda and Marc were all there.

The elevator door opened and Matt stepped out. Daniel wondered how he found out but then realized it had been all over the news and if he hadn't found out that way, he was certain Tyler or Amanda had probably told him.

Matt looked a little anxious, as if he wasn't sure how people would respond to his showing up. Be he still cared very much for Betty and all of her family and he had to know how she was. Hilda went over first and gave him a hug, followed by Ignacio, Tyler and Amanda.

Daniel's mind was a mess. Now that Betty was back and safe he was relieved but all the other emotions - guilt, helplessness, anger – were overwhelming him. He couldn't stop feeling like the entire incident was his fault. The staggering urge to do whatever he could to protect Betty was pulsating threw his veins and he didn't know how to channel it. Surely there was something he could do to prevent something like this from ever happening again…there had to be. Not to mention he hadn't slept in two days. He needed to be alone. A part of him was thankful for Matt's arrival – it was just the distraction he needed to slip away. He walked down the stairs to avoid the throngs of reporters gathered at the base of the elevator. He slipped out the side door of the hospital and found himself in an alley. He started pacing back and forth, his mind was racing; a dozen thoughts swirling around all at once…and none of it very rational.

He could do it, it was entirely feasible, he had the means…he could take off, disappear almost completely from his current life. He could leave Betty and her family to have a normal life. Not one where his money, and the Meade notoriety would always haunt them – endanger them even.

He was so lost in thought he didn't even notice Matt slip out the same door into the alley behind him. Matt cleared his throat and Daniel looked up. Daniel didn't know exactly why, but somehow he thought if anyone would understand, Matt would. He needed to vent; he started ranting.

"I hate it…all of it; the reporters, the photographers, the invasion of privacy. Why can't they leave us alone? I hate that everywhere I go people know who I am. I hate that we can't even go to a restaurant or out to a movie in New York without being recognized. I hate that all people see when they look at me is the Meade fortune." He'd been very used to the attention and the paparazzi when he lived in New York but since living in London and becoming rather anonymous, he found all the attention, particularly tonight, excruciating. He paused for a moment, sighed heavily and continued along a different train of thought.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid money!" He paused for another second his frustration brewing. "Stupid, stupid company." He kicked a stone that was on the road. "Stupid Meade name."

Matt spoke. "Don't forget your stupid face."

Daniel's head snapped up to look at him.

"Uh…I mean…because that's what gets you recognized in the first place…you know." Matt backpedaled.

Daniel had to laugh. Matt relaxed a little and chuckled too. They sat down together on the steps. It was silent for a minute and then Daniel spoke – he was very serious.

"I was thinking of leaving." Daniel said.

"What do you mean?" Matt didn't understand.

"I was thinking of taking off…quitting my job in London…hiding out somewhere…maybe for a couple of years; at least until Betty forgets about me." He wasn't really sure why he was telling Matt, of all people, this; he just needed to talk to someone.

"Are you serious?" Matt was stunned.

"Yeah. It's my fault all of this happened; because of the Meade money. If it wasn't for me Betty would be safe. Who's to say something like this won't happen again…and have worse consequences?"

Matt didn't say anything right away. He was too astonished; there were too many things about that statement to process immediately. Finally, after gathering all of his thoughts, he spoke.

"Don't do it Daniel." He said. "You're not thinking very clearly right now. It's been a crazy couple of days…all the emotions…the lack of sleep…it's enough to make anyone think a little…irrationally." He looked at Daniel sympathetically, but he had a point and he was determined to make it. "If you leave Betty it'll be the single most idiotic thing you've ever done. And from what I've heard…that bar has been set pretty high."

Daniel looked at the ground.

"Look Daniel…I know you want to protect her and her family. When you love someone, like you obviously love Betty, then you'd do anything to keep her safe. But you can't let some crackpot ruin your life…or Betty's. If you take off, that's what you'll be doing. If you left her she'd be crushed. I don't know how long it would take her to get over it…if she ever could. I know how much she loves you. I saw it when I went to dinner with her in London." He paused and took a deep breath. "Honestly, nobody wants Betty to be happy more than I do. And as much as I hate to admit it…you make her happy Daniel. Don't leave her…for **her** sake…and for yours. You would regret it for the rest of your life…trust me."

Daniel looked at Matt and saw the sincerity in his face.

Daniel had to ask him; he had to know, "Why did you come down here; why did you follow me?"

"You looked like you could use someone to talk to; someone not so caught up in all the drama." Matt smiled at him. "Guess I called that one."

Daniel was amazed - who knew Matt Hartley was a decent guy? He wasn't the spoiled little rich prick Daniel had presumed him to be and he really wasn't anything like his father. If anyone should have given him the benefit of the doubt, Daniel should have. He'd been judging Matt exactly the way other people judged him – without really knowing him. He should have known Matt was decent; Betty was generally an excellent judge of character – even if she did tend to give people the benefit of the doubt too often.

Matt had something else to say.

"You know Daniel, it's not your fault you are a Meade any more than it's my fault I'm a Hartley. It's just what is. You can't change it but you can't hide from it either…I learned that a long time ago. You can't escape the name or the expectations and there will always be people nosing into your business. And yeah…it's possible, although not very likely, that something like this could happen again. But are you willing to give up what you have with Betty because you're afraid of something that **might** happen? He paused for a few moments and then added "Truthfully, I don't think you are. If you were really serious about leaving you wouldn't have told me…you would have just left."

There was a short companionable silence. Daniel was thinking about everything Matt had said.

Matt continued. "You have to know though…if you do leave her, I swear…I will hunt you down and kick your ass." He said it with all the authority and testosterone he could muster.

Daniel looked at him skeptically. Daniel wasn't much of a fighter but it was highly unlikely Matt could take him.

Matt grinned, aware of what Daniel was thinking. "Yeah…well…probably not **me**, personally. But I have the resources…I'll hire someone to kick your ass."

Daniel chuckled.

After a few minutes Matt spoke again as if just realizing something. "You know…you and I are not that different from each other; we have a lot in common. In fact I like to think the real reason Betty fell for you was because you remind her so much of me." He grinned again, got up and went back inside leaving Daniel with his thoughts.

Daniel smiled and shook his head. Enough of his common sense had returned - he got up and followed Matt inside.


	11. Chapter 11

Betty woke up to the sound of unknown voices talking in the distance. Her mouth was dry, her throat was sore…and…wow…her head - it hurt to open her eyes. Was it possible for your hair to hurt?

She blinked a couple of times trying to focus – no glasses. She was obviously in a hospital – that much she could tell. She looked around and saw a blurry Daniel in the chair beside her bed. He was disheveled and sleeping; slouched in the chair with his head back and his mouth half open. She didn't know whether or not she should wake him but she needed a drink so badly.

"Daniel." She said softly. There was no response. "Daniel…" She said it a little louder that time making her head pound. She grimaced in pain.

This time he stirred, and woke up. When he realized she was awake he practically jumped to her side, grabbing her hand. She grimaced again – not because it hurt but in anticipation of how loud he might speak. He noticed her discomfort and changed his manner before he said anything.

"Hey Betty." He said softly, and sweetly, gently caressing her hand as he spoke. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just woke up the morning after a bad Mode launch party." She commented. "One with really cheap champagne."

He grinned at her, relieved that she still had her sense of humour.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked.

"A drink of water would be great." She commented.

He immediately went to the ledge and poured her one from the jug that the night nurse had left. He handed it to her and she tried to sit up. The room started spinning and the pain in her temples was almost unbearable. She quickly abandoned all hope of that and lay back down.

Daniel looked at her with a worried expression. "Maybe I'll get you a straw." He suggested.

He disappeared for a few moments and returned with a straw in hand.

"The doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes." He said helping her have a drink from her laying down position.

"What's going on?" Betty asked once she had taken a sip of water. "Why am I in the hospital and why can't I sit up? Why does my head hurt so badly?"

"You don't remember anything?" Daniel asked.

"The last thing I remember was telling you I'd see you later and then grabbing a coffee at a coffee shop so I could rest my feet for few minutes." She said honestly.

She could see the relief on Daniel's face – relief and confusion mixed with a tiny bit of apprehension. She'd seen confusion and apprehension enough times on Daniel's face she could recognize it anywhere.

"What's going on, Daniel?" She asked him pointedly.

"Maybe we should just wait until after the doctor sees you." He was in avoidance mode now, she could tell.

"Or maybe you could just stop being evasive and tell me what's going on right now." She wasn't in the mood for this.

"Betty…" He almost begged. She could tell he wasn't deliberately trying to be difficult, he just honestly wasn't sure if talking now was the best thing to do.

Just then the doctor came in, giving him a reprieve.

"Hi Betty. I'm Dr. Morris. So I see you are wide awake now. How are you feeling?" He came over and put his hand on her wrist to take her pulse.

"My head is pounding but other than that I think I'm ok." She replied. He used his stethoscope to check her heart.

"Good. Well, the headache is perfectly normal…the result of the drugs leaving your system. And it looks like your vitals are good. You'll probably be back to yourself in a day or two. I'll do up the paperwork and you can go home this afternoon…provided you promise to take it easy. Maybe you two should talk." He suggested more to Daniel than herself as he left the room.

"Drugs!" Betty said a little more loudly than she intended and she grimaced again. She asked a little softer "Why the heck do I have drugs leaving my system?"

Daniel smiled a little feebly. Betty could tell he was thinking something through. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to explain this situation to her…but she wasn't sure.

He started slowly. "Betty…we think someone put some kind of drug in your coffee at the coffee shop. Did you leave your cup unattended when you were there?"

"Really?" She thought back for a minute. "Well, when I was first sitting at the table I realized I left one of my bags up at the counter and I went back up for just half a second to get it…so I guess I might have." She was puzzled. "Why would anyone want to put drugs in my coffee?"

Daniel carefully and gently explained to her that she'd been missing for about thirty-two hours. That the kidnapper had wanted money and that she hadn't been harmed in anyway except for the drugs in her system. She thought for a minute she was being Punk'd. She looked around half expecting to see Ashton Kutcher jump out from around a corner or something. How can you be kidnapped and not even remember? Then she thought of her family…they must be so worried!

"Papi, Hilda…" She started to say.

"They went home last night." Daniel interrupted her. "They were here; they know you're safe." He could tell that she was concerned about them. "I made them go home. Your dad hadn't slept in two days and I was worried about him. I made Hilda and Bobby take him back to his house so he could get some sleep. That was no easy feat - nobody wanted to leave, least of all your dad. But I reminded him that if he got a good night sleep he would be refreshed to cook a nice meal for you when you got out today." He grinned at her, obviously proud that he'd accomplished the almost impossible. He added "I don't think he would have gone if I didn't swear on my life that I wouldn't leave your side."

Betty smiled at the thought of the interaction that must have taken place between her dad and Daniel. She could picture the so stubborn Ignacio refusing to leave and the ever charming Daniel coming up with the best reason of all for Ignacio to go and sleep…so that he could nourish Betty properly when she came home the next day. She was also warmed by the thought that Ignacio only left because he trusted Daniel so much.

"We should call them and let them know you're coming home today. That way your dad can start cooking." Daniel smiled

Betty smiled back at him

Just after twelve o'clock, Daniel and Betty arrived at Ignacio's house. There was a small swarm of paparazzi outside the Suarez house. In Daniel's experience they were hardly anything to worry about. Betty on the other hand wasn't used to quite so much attention.

"What are they doing here?" She whispered to Daniel.

"Trying to get the scoop. Just ignore them."

Flashes went off and the bright light made Betty cringe. Reporters tried to ask questions but Daniel just walked by them, not saying a word.

Ignacio had been cooking up something delicious. Daniel could smell it before they even got in the front door. Hilda and Bobby and Justin were inside with Ignacio. Justin greeted her at the door.

"Can you believe it Aunt Betty?" Justin said. "We're famous. I'm pretty sure they got my good side when we came in." He turned, displaying his left side and grinned.

Betty smiled at his enthusiasm even though she didn't share it. "What are you guys doing here? Don't you have work?"

"Well, it's not everyday my baby sister gets kidnapped and released from the hospital. We just wanted to be here to share it." Hilda grinned.

After they had eaten, Betty's head was starting to feel a little better. It was still aching but not pounding anymore. And it was nice to have a proper meal. She was feeling very tired though and obviously it was showing.

"Mija, you look tired. I think you should go upstairs and have a rest." Ignacio said.

"Yeah, I think I'd better. I am feeling exhausted."

"Speaking of exhausted, I imagine you didn't sleep very well in the chair in the hospital last night Daniel. You could probably use some rest yourself. You two go on upstairs and lie down."

"Yeah." Hilda agreed. "Bobby and Justin will help clean up."

"Hey!" Bobby and Justin protested in unison.

"What…You can't even pick up a few dishes to help out an old man who cooked lunch?" Hilda asked.

"Hey!" It was Ignacio turn to protest.

Daniel hadn't realized how tired he was until he had a full stomach and Ignacio had reminded him of his lack of sleep. He and Betty climbed the stairs. He started heading to Hilda's room but Betty grabbed his hand and pulled him into her room.

"Stay here with me." She said.

"But your dad—" Daniel started to protest. "It's not that I don't want to stay here, but the image of castration with sharp cooking knives keeps popping into my head." He joked.

"It's ok. We're just sleeping. He knows that." She smiled at him her eyes were pleading.

"Yeah…like I'm going to resist that look." He grinned.

Betty grabbed a blanket, put her glasses on the night table and lay down on the bed. Daniel snuggled up to her, spooning her. He slipped his arm around her waist. She moved back to eliminate any possible space between them and grabbed his hand bringing it up under her chin. He softly kissed the side of her neck. They were quiet for a few seconds and then Daniel spoke.

"Wow…I really missed this." He whispered.

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Me too." She said.

Exhaustion overtook them and they fell asleep within minutes.

An hour and a half later Betty awoke. She felt rested but still had a slight ache at her temples. Daniel was sleeping but not very restfully, she noticed. He was moving around, kicking in his sleep and though not exactly talking, he wasn't silent either – moans and groans kept escaping his lips. And he was sweating…weird, it wasn't hot in the room. He was obviously having a bad dream. She didn't know whether she should wake him or not. Wasn't it dangerous to wake people when they were having a bad dream…or was that sleep walking? She could never remember. But watching him in his uncomfortable slumber was unbearable. She opted to try waking him up.

"Daniel." She shook him gently – no response. "Daniel." She shook him a little harder.

"What—" He woke with a start. His heart was racing.

She looked at him apologetically. "Sorry. You were having a bad dream…it was hard to watch."

"Yeah." He remembered. He shook his head trying to get the image out of it.

"What was it? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really." He was honest.

How could he tell her that he was dreaming of the kidnapping? The dream was identical to the past couple of days except in his dream they didn't find the kidnapper and he didn't lead them to her location. Instead, they found her mangled body floating in the Hudson River and he was on the crime unit trying to uncover enough evidence to convict the killer – DNA under the fingernails, identifying the ligature markings, autopsy. Bobby was in the dream as well…he was some kind of forensic expert diver. He was the one who found Betty in the river. Man…he really needed to stop eating spicy Mexican food right before sleeping…and he needed to stop watching crime shows. And he really needed to not have Betty kidnapped anymore too.

"Are you sure it wouldn't make you feel better to tell me about it?" Betty asked concerned.

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure neither one of us would feel better after that conversation." He said and although she didn't completely understand she figured she better not press it.

She put her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her. His heart was slowing down a bit.

"I take it the past couple of days have been a little traumatic for everyone." She wanted him to open up a bit. She knew, unless she pushed him, Daniel would suppress all of his emotions regarding the entire event, packing them in the same container he'd packed all of his childhood baggage in - and there was not much room left in that container. One of these days it was going to blow open like Vesuvius.

"I know what you're doing." He said.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently. "I'm not doing anything. I'm just making conversation."

"You are so transparent. You're trying to get me to talk about it…this whole thing."

She lifted her head to look up at his face. "Don't you think you should? Wouldn't it be better than trying to ignore it completely?"

"I don't know. Ignoring is my standard reaction to most traumatic events." He half joked.

She placed her head back down on his chest. "Yeah…and how's that working for you? You were almost arrested at the airport, you beat up a bus shelter and you punched out my boyfriend after your wife died."

"Ex-boyfriend…and he kind of deserved it at the time."

"And let's see…you spiraled into uncontrollable drinking and anonymous sex when Alex returned as Alexis and reinstated Wilhelmena at Mode. And what about when you took those drugs—"

"Is there a point to all this Daniel bashing?" Daniel interrupted, cringing at the memories.

"I'm not bashing. I'm just trying to get you to see that your standard method of dealing with things - which is not actually dealing with things at all – has not been particularly helpful in the past."

"So what do you want me to do?" He asked.

"I want you to talk about it."

"Ok. What do you want to hear? Do you want to hear how terrified I was when I found out you were missing? Or would you rather hear how I threw up my expensive lunch in your father's washroom at the prospect of you being kidnapped and that it was all because of me and my money?" He was getting a little agitated at being forced into this conversation.

Betty sat up "Daniel…this isn't what I meant. If you would feel more comfortable talking to someone else about it…"

"I'm sorry, Betty." He immediately felt remorseful. "I just don't want to rehash all of this. It was horrible."

"I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed."

Daniel sighed. "I actually did talk to someone…sort of."

"You did?" She was surprised. "Who?"

"Matt." Daniel answered.

"Matt?" She was stunned. She hadn't even realized Matt had been around.

He proceeded to tell her that Matt had shown up at the hospital. And he told her the conversation he'd had with him – all of it. He didn't want to keep things from her. There had been so many secrets in his family and he hated it. He didn't want to have that same kind of relationship with Betty.

"You were thinking of leaving?" She said when he finished. Her eyes pooled with tears.

Daniel suddenly realized that maybe he shouldn't have told her the entire conversation. He didn't want to keep secrets but there was a little thing called discretion - maybe he needed to practice that a little more.

"It was a stupid, irrational thought…mostly coming from fear and sleep deprivation. I just wanted to keep you safe." He was desperate for her to understand. "I'm so sorry Betty." He sat up and pulled her close into a tight embrace.

They were silent for a moment and some tears fell on his shirt. She was obviously upset.

She said quietly, through her tears, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Please don't leave me Daniel."

He could hear the fear in her tone and it made his heartbreak. She was so vulnerable. He'd never seen her that way with regard to their relationship before. She was always the confident one, the optimist, his rock - well adjusted, level headed and independent. He knew Betty loved him - they'd talked about their future together; about getting married even. But a part of him always felt that their relationship was just slightly askew – not in a big way, nothing that really mattered to him. They both loved each other passionately; they both wanted what was best for the other one. But Daniel needed her. She put the yin in his yang; she balanced things out; made him think before doing stupid things; pushed him to be more than he would settle for on his own. For the first time he saw that maybe, just maybe, she needed him too. It was an odd feeling – scary, but not in a bad way; in a way that made him feel his life had a little more purpose.

He held her even tighter. "I love you Betty. I'm not ever going anywhere. I promise." He kissed the top of her head. "You're pretty much stuck with me."


	12. Chapter 12

The realization that Betty might actually need him, buoyed Daniel's spirit but not enough to counteract the other emotions he was dealing – or rather, **not** dealing - with. He was still struggling with an irrational fear that something like this might happen again…to Betty, or perhaps even to their children someday. And he was suppressing a bucket load of guilt for all sorts of reasons…not the least of which, was that his money caused the entire incident in the first place.

The next day, as he went down for breakfast, he still had a cloud over his head. He knew he should be happy, ecstatic even that Betty was back but that wasn't exactly what he was feeling.

He went into the kitchen and found Ignacio, once again, cooking breakfast.

"Good morning Daniel." Ignacio greeted him. "Today is going to be a fantastic day. I can just feel it!" The older gentleman was obviously in a very good mood.

"I hope you're not doing all this work in the kitchen because I keep staying over." Daniel said suddenly feeling a little bit like his presence was creating more work around the house.

"Not at all Daniel." Ignacio replied. "I love to cook. I'd do it for Betty anyway, even if you weren't here. So having you here just means there aren't as many leftovers." He smiled warmly. But then he added "I'm sure your mother is missing having you around though."

Daniel felt a little guilty and thought he should explain a little. "My mother has my half-brother staying at the house. It just feels a little awkward to be there. Not only that but my sister, Alexis, is there as well and our relationship is a little…unique."

Ignacio nodded like he understood. "Family can sometimes be complicated. But in the long run…when we work at it, it's usually worth the effort we've put into it."

Daniel nodded but didn't say anything else. He sat quietly stewing in the negative emotions he was still feeling about the past few days while Ignacio busied himself with the cooking.

After several minutes Ignacio spoke. "You seem a little down today Daniel. I thought you'd be feeling overjoyed this morning, seeing as Betty came home yesterday safe and sound. I know that's how I'm feeling."

Daniel tried to smile but it was obviously lacking sincerity. Ignacio put the casserole in the oven and then sat down at the table with him.

"What is it, son?" He asked Daniel.

Daniel hesitated. He liked Ignacio and respected him. In many ways he'd been more of an encouraging father figure in his life than his own father had. But he didn't know if he was ready to talk about any of this. Who was he kidding? He was **never** ready to open up and share about emotional events in his life. Wasn't that exactly what Betty was talking about yesterday? All his life, his best method of coping with his emotions was ignoring and avoiding; and if they both failed, drinking himself into a stupor. None of those options seemed to be a strategy he would easily be able to utilize this time around. Maybe Betty was right…maybe he needed to talk about it. Perhaps it was time to wade into the emotional pool …just a little.

He wet his toe. "Uh…Ignacio…how is it that you're so…upbeat?" He looked at the older gentleman. "I mean…two days ago we had no idea where Betty was or if we'd even see her again."

"That's exactly why, Daniel. We have Betty back and she's not hurt and by some miracle she's not even traumatized by the whole thing because she can't remember it at all. There really couldn't have been a happier ending."

Daniel nodded but was still unconvinced.

"But something is definitely bothering **you**…am I right?" Ignacio asked. "Maybe you want to talk about it?"

"Betty said the same thing. She said I needed to talk about the whole event and not just ignore it."

"She's right, Daniel. Ignoring our feelings doesn't do anything but ensure they'll come out at some other time…often in an inappropriate way. But if you talk about them…sometimes it helps you put them into perspective. And it helps to know you're not the only one feeling that way too."

Daniel was still a little wary. He wasn't really good with sharing. Ignacio sensed his hesitation and continued talking.

"You know Daniel…a lot of people think that if you let your emotions show that it indicates a weakness in your armour."

Daniel could relate. His father had been like that…never really expressing himself, except of course for the supreme disappointment he had always expressed when Daniel had screwed something up. He always got the impression from his father that if he let too much show it meant he was weak. And that had been just one more way he had disappointed his dad because he could never quite seem to hide what he was feeling, at least not in the same way Bradford had.

Ignacio kept going. "I don't think of it that way. It's not about preventing something from coming in – like the armour does…it's about letting something out."

Daniel looked at him slightly puzzled, so he continued. "Let me put it this way, son. Have you ever baked a potato?" That was a legitimate question to ask a wealthy bachelor who up until last year lived on take-out.

"Yeah…a couple of times." He didn't admit that it wasn't until he'd moved to London.

"Well, if you don't prick it before you put it in the oven, the chances are pretty good that it'll explode when it's heated. The water inside the potato becomes steam but because the potato skin acts as a barrier the steam can't escape…when the pressure is great enough, the potato blows up."

Daniel was getting the point, he was the potato and he needed to let his "steam" escape a little before he blew. But Ignacio wasn't finished. "There's more to that analogy though. The pricks in the potato skin allow the steam to escape but they also allow the heat to enter so the potato gets more evenly cooked."

Ok…Daniel didn't get that part…that just seemed like cooking to him. Obviously his confused expression said as much to Ignacio.

"The armour is all about keeping out the bad…like it's a negative thing to let something pierce through. The potato analogy assumes that what is coming through – the heat of the oven – is actually a good thing."

Daniel looked questioningly at him. Still not getting it…

Ignacio was patient and explained. "When you let out the steam – in other words, share your emotions – then you let people into your life - the heat of the oven - because you are brought closer together."

Daniel sat for a minute unable to speak. Of course sharing your feelings and emotions brought you close to people. That was partly how he and Betty had grown so close, wasn't it?

A bunch of images started flashing through his brain: Comforting Betty when Henry left; Betty crying when Jessie kissed Amanda; his complete breakdown in Betty's arms when Molly died; his emotional hug with Alexis during the paintball game, and then she shot him anyway…Ok bad example with the last one…maybe you just needed to be careful who you were vulnerable with.

"So..." Ignacio continued. "if you want to talk…if you **need** to talk, you know you can talk to me."

After the analogy and the invitation from Ignacio, Daniel decided to wade into the pool…slowly. He started by admitted that he sometimes hated the Meade name and money and all it stood for. Then he told Ignacio that he couldn't shake the guilt he felt for both leaving Betty in Manhattan and the fact that it was because of his family's money that she was taken in the first place. The more he spoke, the easier it became and the deeper he waded. He spoke about his concerns for Betty's safety even now that this guy was put away because there were other crackpots in the world. He told Ignacio exactly how he felt when he found out Betty was missing and the complete and utter terror her felt that he might never see her again.

But, surprisingly to Daniel, Ignacio reciprocated…sharing the feeling that he felt like he somehow failed Betty when he couldn't protect her. He admitted that at one point during that evening he had lost all hope and thought that Betty might actually be dead and how unfair that was…and how he would have done just about anything to trade places with her in that moment.

They shared a little emotion…but only a little. And if it was weird for Daniel to share such intimate emotions with Ignacio about the man's own daughter it sure didn't feel that way. Afterward, Daniel did indeed feel closer to him; and it wasn't nearly the emotional wringer he'd expected it might be - in fact he felt better.

"Can I help with breakfast?" Daniel offered, once the conversation was at an end.

"It's mostly done. But you can get some plates out if you like." Ignacio went to the oven to check on the casserole.

It was getting a quite late in the morning and Betty still hadn't come down for breakfast.

"I guess the past few days have taken their toll. It's really not like Betty to sleep in so late; she's usually the first one out of bed." Daniel commented absentmindedly as he was grabbing the plates.

Ignacio raised his eyebrows and Daniel realized what he'd just said.

"Uh…I mean…" He searched for an excuse but nothing sounded plausible. "Ok, there's no recovering from that, I'm not even going to try." Daniel admitted.

Ignacio chuckled a little.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you kidding me?" Daniel asked. "We're going to lunch with Tyler and Amanda?"

Betty had finally come down for breakfast and she, Daniel and Ignacio were sitting at the table in the kitchen.

"And your mom." Betty added. "It was your mom's idea, actually."

"Of course it was." Daniel wasn't surprised by that. Nor was he surprised that his mom had recruited Betty to convince him to go. "Why didn't you ask me, before saying yes?"

"Because if I had asked you, you would have said no…at least at first - until I eventually persuaded you. I'm just skipping ahead so we don't waste time." She explained rationally as she dished up some of the breakfast casserole Ignacio had made.

"It was planned before Christmas…and seeing as everything is mostly back to normal I thought we should still do it. Come on Daniel, it'll be fun. Besides, you haven't spent nearly as much time with Tyler and your mom as you should have this trip."

"Give me a break. My girlfriend was kidnapped."

Betty grinned at him. "I know, and that's why I'm cutting you some slack about the number of nights you were supposed to stay here."

"Why are you so interested in how much time I spend with Tyler anyway?" Daniel was curious.

"Because he's your brother and family is important." She argued.

Ignacio piped up for the first time. "She's right Daniel. Family is important."

Daniel sighed, now they were ganging up on him.

Betty added "Besides, you might really like him. You were impressed with him when you spent time with him last week, remember? And it might be nice to have an ally around when things get a little tense in your family." She didn't say it but she was alluding to Alexis.

Betty - the woman who always tried to see the best in everyone – was not particularly fond of Alexis. There was a lot of water under that bridge - framing Daniel for Christina's attempted murder was only part of it. Most of it was just the way she berated Daniel all of the time. She seemed to get some sick pleasure out of making his life miserable. But Betty would never directly say anything bad about her…she was his sister after all. And Betty, the forgiving person that she was, was trying to overcome her prejudices against Alexis herself.

"Didn't the doctor say you're supposed to take it easy?" He tried a different excuse.

"It's just lunch. I have to eat somewhere and we'll take a cab there. It's not like we're jogging into Manhattan. And anyway, even if I shouldn't go, **you should**." She asserted. "Wouldn't you rather have me there?" She definitely had a point - he would much rather she accompany him.

He made a throaty sound that could only be described as a small whimper combined with a groan, which Betty knew meant he had conceded. A big smile broke out across her face. At least he was making her happy by doing this.

They arrived at the restaurant just after twelve thirty. They grabbed a table and waited for the others to arrive.

"You could at least **pretend** you want to be here." Betty commented dryly. He'd been miserable all the way over in the cab.

Daniel gave her a huge cheesy smile accompanied by his two thumbs up, except he completely exaggerated it – if that was even possible - so she wouldn't miss his point. She would have smacked him if she hadn't started laughing first – he looked so goofy.

"You can be so infuriating sometimes." She said to him trying to stifle her laugh; she was both miffed at him and amused by him at the same time.

"Yeah…I can tell." He smirked.

"Seriously, though. Please try to see this as the opportunity it is." Betty begged. "One day, I'm sure you will appreciate having a brother."

"I have a brother." Daniel reminded her. "She's now my sister, remember?"

Betty shook her head. His life really was way too bizarre. She didn't have time to contemplate that too much before the rest of their party arrived.

"Hey there." Amanda greeted them. "I'm glad to see you're alright Betty." She said sincerely sliding into the table beside Betty and giving her a hug. "For a while there I thought you were a goner. I was sure the kidnapper was going to off you. I don't know how I would have handled that - both you and Halston dead in the same year. It would have been my worst year ever - worse even than the year the chunky heel came back."

"Thanks…" Betty said tentatively. Amanda's comments always caught her off guard.

"Betty, Daniel…I'm so glad you could make it for lunch." Claire Meade said smiling at Betty. "Oh Betty you would not believe how relieved we all are that you're ok."

"Tyler…good to see you." Daniel shook his hand.

They spoke politely, making small talk until the waiter arrived and everyone ordered.

When the waiter walked away Betty turned to Daniel and said "Hey, didn't he remind you of the guy that was one of Fabia's minions? Do you remember? He was the one that pushed past my desk and burst into your office having a colossal freak about the coffee…."Zat eez zee wrong kind of coffee in zee board rum. Fabia only likes zee decaf!"" Betty laughed at her own impersonation; Daniel laughed and shook his head at her.

"Wait…Betty was your assistant? I didn't know that." Tyler said.

"The best assistant ever." Daniel smiled at her.

"Hey!" Amanda piped up.

"Sorry Amanda, but it's true." Daniel apologized. Amanda just shrugged.

Tyler looked confused. "So Amanda told me you had a tendency to sleep with your assistants…so were you and Betty together—"

"Oh no way!" Betty said a little too emphatically, cringing at the thought of sleeping with **that** Daniel. Daniel looked a little offended; Claire just laughed. "I mean we were always just great friends." Betty smiled at Daniel hoping he would let the outburst slide.

"I think Betty was the only assistant Daniel didn't sleep with." Amanda commented.

"Ok…do we have to discuss this…in front of my mother?" Daniel was perturbed.

"Oh please, Daniel…it's not a secret." Claire said.

"And she wasn't, by the way." He defended himself. "I didn't sleep with Natalie or Lexie either."

"Lexie." Betty smiled "I forgot about her. She was a stellar assistant for that day and a half…if I remember correctly. She was so…." Betty looked like she was searching for correct adjective. "…tall." She glanced at Daniel, her eyes teasing; he looked a little sheepish.

"You should have seen Betty when she started as Daniel's assistant." Amanda said. "Remember her walking into the glass door?"

That started an entire conversation centered on Betty's early days at Mode – all the embarrassing things that happened and all the quirky outfits. Betty was mortified. But Daniel and Tyler were having a good laugh together – that was a part of bonding wasn't it? She decided she could suck it up if it meant Daniel and Tyler would get a little bit closer. At least Mrs. Meade wasn't in on it.

"Oh…and remember that time Betty smashed the window of that sandwich shop because she was wearing my poison laced perfume?" Claire added. Ok, so maybe she was in on it too.

"I wish Marc was here." Amanda said wistfully. "It's a shame he's not. He would have so much to add."

"Yeah…that is a shame." Betty said sarcastically.

There was a little reprieve when the waiter brought their meals. Thankfully for Betty, once everyone started eating, the topic changed. Daniel and Betty started talking about London and their respective jobs. Tyler spoke a little about looking for work now that his rehab was finished. He wouldn't take a job from Claire, even though she'd offered to help get him one - which Betty thought was highly admirable. He told them a little about his life in South Dakota and how he missed the slow pace but was excited to be in the big city and how he wanted to stay because there was so much opportunity. He looked at Amanda when he said it and she stared back, obviously love struck.

After lunch the group were waiting outside for the town car to arrive for Claire, Tyler and Amanda. Claire pulled Betty just slightly to the side to speak with her more privately.

"Thank you, Betty…for convincing Daniel to come." Claire smiled at her.

"I didn't really have to convince—" Betty started to say but Claire gave her a look that told her she knew the truth. "Well…ok…I had to do a little convincing."

"I think it went well, though, don't you?" Claire asked Betty with some hope in her tone.

"Yeah…I really do." Betty agreed.

"I want you to know Betty, that we are all very lucky to have you in our lives." Claire was sincere.

Betty got a little choked up. "Thank you Mrs. Meade. That means a lot."

They gave each other a hug just as the town car arrived. Daniel looked over and noticed the touching scene between Betty and his mom.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked Betty once the others had left.

"What?" Betty asked.

"That little…whatever…with you and my mom."

"Nothing…just a nice conversation. Your mom loves me." Betty grinned.

Daniel smiled and laced his fingers with hers. "It's the general consensus around here."

They started walking down the street.

"So" Betty started. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess not." He confessed.

"Oh come on, Daniel. You had fun. Just admit it." She poked his arm hard with her finger.

He flinched. "Ok…ok. It was a little fun."

"I knew it!" She was smug.

"So are you going to gloat now?" Daniel asked her. "Or can we move on to something else?"

"I think maybe I'll do a little gloating first." She smirked and pretended to think about it. "Yeah…I'm definitely going to gloat."


	14. Chapter 14

Betty was standing in the washroom preening. She was getting ready for the New Years Eve party at Claire Meade's. She'd brushed and styled her hair, put on a little make up and now she was examining the way she looked in the new Christina McKinney original she was wearing. Christina had made it for her and it was beautiful, if not a little more risqué than Betty was normally acquired to with her modest style. It was a beautiful shade of blue and made of the most exquisite silk. It had a low cut front and an even lower cut back that tapered at the waist and then fell elegantly to the floor.

Daniel came walking down the hall and noticed her – the door was open.

"Wow!" He was stunned. "Wow. I mean…wow."

"Very eloquent, Daniel." She teased. "I can see why you were Editor-in-Chief of a fashion magazine for four years."

"Three years and ten months actually - there was that stint at Player…remember?" He grinned at her.

She pulled at the front of the dress to bring the coverage a little more to her liking but as it wasn't designed that way, it didn't stay and fell back to its original position as soon as she let go. She frowned slightly.

"I swear Christina has this thing about showing off my boobs." She commented, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah…remind me to thank her the next time I see her." Daniel said.

Betty gave him a look and tried to pull the fabric together at the front again. She'd loved the design when she'd tried it on at Christina's but now that she was actually going out in public with it, she felt a little self-conscious.

"You're not going to do that all evening, are you?" He teased her.

"I was thinking of pinning it." She said seriously. Daniel was horrified as he imagined the hideous broach that might assume a place at the front of Betty's chest.

"Stop…don't you dare! It looks gorgeous." He chuckled. Then he said more seriously "**You** look gorgeous." He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Betty gave him a kiss.

"Thank you." She said softly. Changing her tone she said "You will tell me if I start falling out of my dress and flashing everyone won't you?"

"Unless it's me you're flashing and I'm enjoying it too much." He promised. She shoved him playfully.

She turned back to the mirror and pulled off her glasses. She squinted at the reflection that she could scarcely see. Daniel was amused. He'd never seen Betty so vain before.

"I was thinking of going without my glasses. What do you think?" Betty asked him.

"Don't you kind of need them…to…uh…see?" Daniel wondered what kind of evening she'd have with little vision.

"Well…I thought maybe I could just hang onto your arm all evening." She grinned. He wasn't quite sure if she was serious or not.

"Not that I would mind that…" He replied smiling. "But I kind of like you with them. You look more…sophisticated…more like you." He said sincerely.

She put them back on and turned to him with a beaming smile. "I love you Daniel." She gave him a huge hug.

"I love you too Betty." Daniel responded, amazed that he'd apparently managed to say the right thing for once. He kissed her softly on the forehead.

"What's with all the fussing anyway? It's not really like you to be so vain."

Betty's mouth dropped open and she looked slightly offended. "I'm not being vain. I just want to look nice." She added more hesitantly "It's a big social event. There will probably be photographers and reporters there…"

Daniel understood. This was their first official outing together in New York and there were bound to be paparazzi hounding them as soon as they stepped out of the town car. The paparazzi had been merciless since the episode a few days ago. And, naturally, the pictures of Betty coming home from the hospital were not particularly flattering. She was trying to make up for it…and boy, did she ever tonight.

Betty grabbed her overnight bag as they left. It was the one night she wasn't staying at her dad's house. They would be in Manhattan probably until well after midnight. It only made sense that she just stay there.

Daniel opened the door of the town car for Betty.

"Um…you get in. I'll just be a minute." She walked around to the other side and spoke to the driver for a minute while Daniel climbed in. Then she got in the other side.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing." Betty said sweetly and, Daniel noticed, also a little secretively. He decided not to pursue it.

They drove a little way before Betty said "We're not late are we?"

"No…It's not even close to midnight yet." Daniel wasn't sure what she meant.

"I mean…I've never been to one of your mother's New Year's Eve parties. Is there stuff we need to be there for ahead of time…before midnight?"

"No. People just mingle around and there's music and some people dance a bit. No big announcements or speeches or anything like that." Daniel still wasn't sure if that's what she meant.

"So your mom isn't expecting you at any particular time this evening?"

"Not really." Daniel thought Betty was acting very strange.

"Good." She smiled like a cat that had just eaten the canary.

Again Daniel decided to just leave well enough alone. It wasn't until they pulled into Hilda's driveway that he realized maybe he should have pursued his line of questioning a little further. Betty must have told the driver to bring them to this address.

"Why are we here?" Daniel wondered.

"Uh…I just have to tell Hilda something." Betty was evasive.

"And you couldn't use the phone?" None of this was making any sense.

"Come with me."

"To tell Hilda something? I don't have anything to tell Hilda."

"Just come with me." She insisted, grabbing his hand. He obliged and got out of the car to walk with her to the front door. The car drove away.

"Hey…" Daniel tried to yell at the driver to stop but the car was too far away.

"Don't worry…we'll call a cab." Betty said. She kept walking to the house. Pulling out a key she unlocked the door and opened it. The house was dark. Daniel thought there was definitely no way Hilda was home.

"Um…Betty. I don't think your sister is home." Daniel said as they walked inside.

"I know." She smirked and closed the door behind her and put her bag on the kitchen table. "She gave me her key." She walked into the living room and turned on the lamp. "She and Bobby are at Bobby's cousin's and Justin's at a New Years Eve party with Austin." Daniel was starting to get the picture.

"Hilda's a bit of a romantic…I'd say." He smiled.

"Definitely." Betty said laughing a little. "Not to mention she owes me, big time, for years of covering for her when she was sneaking in and out in high school."

"I don't think I ever realized you could be quite this sly, Betty." Daniel smirked.

"You're kidding, right…breaking a celebrity out of rehab, stealing your father's will, aiding and abetting a kidnapper…none of those count?" Betty cringed a little thinking about it. "And what about the time Marc and I stole that dress back from Elle?"

"Alright, alright, I take it back - you're a regular Jason Bourne. So tell me…why are we here and not at my mother's New Years Eve party." He asked as though he didn't already know.

She walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest. "I just missed you." She said sweetly.

"Oh. Is that all?" He said as he took off his overcoat and placed it on the chair. "Just a chance to do a little catching up." He smirked. "You know we are going back to London in just two days." He teased her as he helped her take off her coat.

"I couldn't wait two days." She said. She seductively unbuttoned his shirt up to where his tie got in the way. "I was having trouble waiting just one afternoon, after I'd planned it with Hilda this morning." She started loosening his tie.

Daniel couldn't stand it any longer. The sensual way she was loosening his tie, that she'd been wanting him…couldn't wait to have him all day, the idea that she'd planned this little encounter because she **needed** to have him…all of it was driving him crazy. Not to mention the fact that they had done little more than cuddle and hold hands for about twelve days. He bent down and kissed her hard and urgently, his right hand cuppedthe back of her head and he started walking her backward toward the wall behind her, planting kisses on her lips, her cheeks, her neck. Over a week and a half of Daniel's pent up sexual frustration was about to be unleashed and he didn't want to wait another second. He backed her up against the wall and reached behind her, fumbling for the zipper of her dress.

"Daniel wait..." She said as she pushed him away from her. He looked at her, the confusion evident on his face…this was her idea in the first place…what was she doing? Why was she stopping him?

She grinned up at him and said "We are still going to your mom's party. I can't arrive there looking like I was worked over by a bunch of randy sailors. Let me hang my dress up so it doesn't get wrinkled." She walked down the hall into one of the bedrooms.

Daniel chuckled, relieved she wasn't really stopping him, but mostly because he couldn't believe she'd thought that far ahead. On second thought…of course he could.

"You know we should hang your suit up too. It wrinkles really easily." Her voice drifted down the hall from the room she was in.

He just shook his head grinning and followed her into the bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

When Betty and Daniel finally arrived at the party, there were paparazzi waiting. They recognized Daniel immediately and started snapping pictures and asking questions.

"Mr. Meade, can we take a picture of you and your lady friend?"

"Mr. Meade, can you comment on how you're feeling after the events of the past few days?"

"Excuse me Mr. Meade…could you please comment on the ransom that was paid for your girlfriend. Rumor has it, it was ten million dollars."

Betty's jaw dropped to the ground. She hadn't heard the details and everyone was so hesitant to talk about the whole episode she didn't want to ask too many questions for fear of upsetting everyone.

"I have no comment to make tonight. Thanks." Daniel said politely and ushered a stunned Betty away from the reporters. He grabbed her hand and they walked into the house. The crowds and paparazzi were starting to get to him so he assumed they were probably getting to Betty too.

They hung up their coats and then instead of going into the main room Daniel led Betty down the side hall.

"Where are we going?" She asked as they walked down the semi-dark hallway.

"I just need some peace for a few minutes before we join everyone." He said. They ducked off of the hallway into what Betty could only describe as someone's personal library. It was a relatively small room with bookcases covering three of the four walls from floor to ceiling. On the fourth wall was a black leather sofa with a reading lamp beside it.

"I thought we just had some "peace" at Hilda's." Betty joked. He grinned at her.

"You know what I mean. I need to clear my head of all the paparazzi before going in and being social. I'm really not used to all the attention anymore."

"Wow." Betty said admiring all the books. She walked over to one of the shelves. There were classics and not so classics. There were books on all imaginable subjects from astronomy to biology, works of fiction to textbooks on economics.

"This was my dad's room." Daniel explained. "He used to hide in here when Alex and I started getting a little noisy." Betty smiled at the image of an adorable little Daniel running around the humongous house.

Betty admired one of the classics she had found. She put it back on the shelf and turned to him. She said very seriously like she was in awe "Ten million dollars is a lot of money. Is it true? Is that how much the ransom was?"

Daniel just nodded.

"Wow…Daniel…" She was amazed and speechless. "I…I don't know what to say. That's crazy."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking. You're worth maybe six and a half million…tops." He grinned and she gave him a little shove. "But seriously…you don't honestly think the amount would matter, at all, when someone you love is missing…do you?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"No…I guess not. It's just ten million dollars is so much money. I forget how much money you have most of the time." She said honestly. "I guess I just don't really think about it."

"Obviously, or we wouldn't be taking the cheapest, earliest flights from London." Daniel teased. But then he added more seriously, "I like that you don't think about it." He looked at her sweetly. "I think you were one of the first people I ever met that didn't." She gave him one of her "get real" looks. "I'm serious. My whole life I've always had people hanging out with me and women sleeping with me because I'm Daniel Meade. Most of them didn't care anything about me…or even really know me for that matter."

"Well I can't vouch for the childhood friends and why they hung out with you but I'm pretty sure that most of the women who slept with you didn't do it because of your money." She smirked at him with a twinkle in her eyes.

He smiled. "Maybe not, but they still didn't really know me. No one has ever known me or understood me like you do Betty." His blue eyes fixed on her. She felt weak in the knees when he looked at her that way. "I love you Betty."

He bent down and kissed her warmly.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that." She said smiling up at him. She slipped her arms under his suit jacket and gave him a huge hug. "But the paparazzi…I think they might get old soon." She sighed.

"Don't worry about it. It'll pass as soon as some other interesting story breaks somewhere. The Meades aren't nearly as newsworthy as they were a few years ago. However, I would try to get used to it now while you're getting some attention. Pretty soon you will be the aunt of **The** Jusin Suarez and there will be swarms of paparazzi around trying to get the scoop on him from you."

Betty grinned at the thought of that – and how much Justin would love it.

"You know we really should go into the party." She said to Daniel. "Before your mother starts to think we both got kidnapped."

As they walked into the main room, Daniel drifted off to greet his mother. Betty spotted Amanda snatching hor d'oeurvres off of a tray as a waiter walked by. Amanda noticed her and sauntered over immediately.

"Hey Betty, you guys are kind of late." Amanda stuffed something with brie on it into her mouth.

"Oh…really?" Betty looked at the clock on the wall trying to be nonchalant about it.

Amanda finished chewing and looked over at Daniel. "I don't know what you're doing to Daniel, Betty, but whatever it is you should keep doing it. Look at him…he looks really happy."

They both looked in Daniel's direction where he was mingling with everyone. He was smiling confidently and he looked so relaxed.

"He does look pretty happy, doesn't he?" Betty grinned, feeling warm that lot of it probably did have to do with her.

"You look happy too." Amanda commented.

"I am." She smiled brightly.

A thought occurred to Amanda and she gasped. "Oh my god, you totally did it before you came here tonight, didn't you?"

Betty was mortified. Did she have a sign on her forehead?

Amanda continued. "Did you do it in the limo? Daniel has a thing for doing it in the limo. He and I always—"

"Amanda!" Betty blurted out, lifting her hand to her temple and massaging slightly as if to extract the image that had just popped into her head. "Please…I beg you…spare me any details."

"Whateves." Amanda remarked. Amanda soften and said sincerely "You look really nice tonight Betty."

"Thanks." Betty said. "You look fabulous in that dress."

"I know, right? Tyler's eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw me." Not that it's all physical between us. We are so much more than physical. We're like you and Daniel… you know…where the mental and emotional connection are so great the physical doesn't matter. Except with **us**, we're both so totally hot that the physical matters too – it's the complete package."

"That's really great, Amanda." Betty said, uncertain if Amanda knew she'd just insulted her or not. She opted for not…lately Amanda was more sweet and clueless than she was mean.

"Hey girls."

Betty turned around and Marc was standing there.

"Marc. I didn't know you were coming." Betty said.

"Oh sure…Claire always invites some of the senior staff from the magazines." Marc said. Betty looked questioningly at him – Junior Fashion Editor does not equal senior staff – but she didn't say anything; better to let him have his delusions of grandeur.

"Look at you - you're looking…tasteful." Marc commented. Betty was amazed. That was probably the closest thing to a compliment about her appearance that he'd ever made. "So that episode…" he waved his hand in a circular motion "…with that guy—"

"The kidnapping? It's ok Marc, you can say it." Betty interrupted.

"Right…that. So that's all over now and you're alright?"

Another amazing moment – he was actually concerned about her.

"I'm fine." She said. She couldn't help but smile.

"Well…I'm…glad." He said. "For a while there I was kind of…worried…" Betty could see the sincerity and a little emotion in his eyes but she didn't have time to get too emotional herself because he immediately changed his demeanor. "I thought I was going to be watching it on the news for months. Every time I turned on the television they were talking about it. I kept thinking: come on people, not the Betty snatching **again**! And they had that picture of you too…Wow!" He held his hand up to his mouth as if to talk behind it and said "Can you say radio face?"

Betty just shook her head. That was as close as Marc was ever going to get to admitting any kind of affection for her, but that was alright. Amanda had already told her, that after she'd been found and admitted to the hospital, Marc had arrived frantic, with inhaler in hand, to find out how she was.

"So did you come to the party on your own?" Betty asked Marc.

"No…Troy's over there." He pointed over his shoulder.

"You're still dating Troy?" Betty was surprised. "Wow…that's been a while now. What has it been…five months?"

"Six…officially." Marc smiled.

"That's amazing…that's a long time for you to be dating one person. Isn't that…like…a decade in Marc years?" Betty teased him.

"Ooooo…relationship slam." Amanda obviously enjoyed that comment.

"Funny Suarez." Marc said sarcastically giving her a fake smile. "Anyway…I refuse to take the word on relationships from anyone who waits four years to "tap" **that**." He gestured in Daniel's direction.

The evening was very enjoyable. Betty bounced around mingling with a number of different people, at least in the beginning. As it approached midnight she was content to find one location and hang out with Amanda - mainly because she enjoying the champagne so much and it seemed as soon as her glass was empty a waiter would come by and she could easily grab another one. It was the best champagne she'd ever tasted. It was just sweet enough but not too sweet and it had just the right amount of fizz. She was consuming a little more than she normally would have but it's not like she was going anywhere – she was sleeping at the mansion anyway. And it didn't look like Daniel was drinking very much so she could lean on him later if she needed to.

Around about midnight, Daniel made his way over to Betty.

"It's going to be countdown soon." He said grinning at her.

She smiled up at him. Betty generally wasn't a big fan of New Years Eve. It always seemed like an overrated celebration – there was a lot of hoopla and empty resolutions and not really anything relevant or lasting to come out of it. But this year felt a little different. It would be wonderful to welcome in the New Year with Daniel. She was so hopeful about what was in store.

The magazine was taking off after all the hard work she'd put into the first couple of months and she was excited about what was going to be in the upcoming issues. Her family all seemed to be doing so well – she'd worried and felt a little guilty about moving so far away because she had thought they needed her so much, but it turned out they were fine. She wasn't nearly as disappointed about that fact as she thought she might have been – in fact, she felt elated because of it.

The events of the past week also had her appreciating life. It's true that she couldn't remember any of it – except some fuzzy grey images that sort of seemed like a dream – but she wasn't a fool; she understood what had happened, and the implications of it, and it made her appreciate what she had that much more.

And what she had was great…both professionally and personally. Things with Daniel were amazing and it was highly conceivable that they would be engaged this coming year…maybe even in the next few months. She physically quivered a little with excitement when she thought of it.

"Are you cold?" Daniel obviously noticed her quiver. He pulled her into his arms.

She blushed, a little embarrassed at how carried away her mind was getting. "No…just excited."

"About New Years?" Daniel questioned.

"About the new year." She smiled at him. He locked eyes with her and understood.

"Me too." He said and he kissed her sweetly.

"Hey you two…that's illegal. The countdown hasn't even started yet." Amanda commented.

"Yeah…and besides…**nobody** wants to see that." Marc added.

When the countdown was over everyone went back to having a good time. Betty danced a little and just generally had fun with everyone…all of it interspersed with enjoying that champagne…

* * *

The party was ending and Betty, being Betty, started gathering up dishes and glasses that were lying around. Daniel noticed and smiled.

He walked over to her and said "You know my mom pays people to do that, right?" He took the dishes from her and put them on the table. "Come on let's go upstairs."

Betty stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down the long, imposing hall. "Your house is huge!" She exclaimed. "It must take forever to clean."

Daniel laughed. She had really enjoyed that champagne this evening and he could tell she'd had one or two glasses too many. She wasn't completely wasted, just impaired enough to be amusing.

"Where am I sleeping?" She asked.

"In here." Daniel said pushing a door on the left side of the hall open.

It opened into a palatial like room. The huge king size bed was almost dwarfed in the expanse of the bedroom. There was an en suite bath on one end of the room and a gigantic walk-in closet on the other. It was beautifully decorated in different hues of blue and a cream coloured yellow. Her overnight bag was already on the floor in front of the bed.

"This was my room, when I was growing up." Daniel said.

"This was your room as a kid!" Betty was blown away.

"Well, it looks a little different now." He defended.

"So where are you sleeping?" Betty asked.

Daniel looked at her funny. "What…I'm not invited to sleep with you when we're in New York?"

"But your Mom—" Betty started.

"My Mom doesn't care. She's not like your dad." He explained. "Besides the house is so big and there are so many people staying tonight, she won't even know." He tried to put Betty's mind at easy. "Anyway, unlike your dad, my mom would encourage us to sleep together…that way if I got you pregnant she'd have another grandchild. She thinks we're moving too slow." He grinned.

"What!" Betty eyes were wide.

"I'm joking…sort of." He didn't explain anymore. Instead he closed the bedroom door and walked over to her. She looked up at him but he was standing so close and she had to tilt her slightly inebriated head back so between that and the heels she was wearing, she lost her balance and swayed a little. He grabbed her by the arms.

"Whoa." He laughed. "How much did you and Amanda drink? He had noticed that Betty and Amanda were hanging out together most of the evening.

"Amanda didn't have anything tonight." Betty explained "She said it had something to do with Tyler and her having alcohol on her breath."

Daniel nodded, understanding. "So you drank her share?" He teased. "Seriously, how much did you have?"

"I don't know. The champagne was so good. I wasn't really keeping track. Why?"

"I guess, I thought you'd spent enough of this trip in a dazed state you'd want to keep your head about you for the rest." He commented.

"First of all, the dazed state you are referring to was not my own doing; therefore I shouldn't be blamed for it. Secondly, I kind of felt like I didn't need to be particularly responsible tonight…I wasn't going home and I figured you could take care of me." She grinned up at him. "Besides…that champagne was really tasty…we should get some of that. And who are you, anyway, judging how much I've had to drink? How many times did I look after you in all your intoxicated states?"

"Point taken." He grinned. "I'll look after you. First off, why don't you take off the high heels? That will help a little with the balance." He chuckled. He turned around to take his watch off at the dresser.

Betty sat on the edge of the bed and – like a little girl – literally kicked her shoes off of her feet. One flipped off but didn't go very far. The other one got stuck, dangling on her toes so she kicked a little harder just to release it. As her judgment was slightly impaired, this resulted in a kick quite a bit harder than she intended. The shoe flew up into the air and right into the back of Daniel's head.

"Ow!" His hand went up to his head and he rubbed it. "Are you trying to kill me, Betty?"

"Sorry." Betty looked at him sheepishly. Then she started to giggle; and then she started to laugh. And the more she thought about it the harder she laughed until she was laughing so hard she had to lie back on the bed and the tears were streaming down her face. The combination of the alcohol, the incident, and Daniel's expression was more than she could handle.

Daniel just stood looking at her and shaking his head.

"Are you finished?" He said after a few minutes of her uncontrollable fit, when it finally seemed the laughing was subsiding.

His exasperated expression just started another round of giggles and she tried desperately to stifle them. She even grabbed a throw pillow to hold over her face in the vain attempt that it might help. Of course it didn't, and every time she lowered the pillow to look at him she started laughing again.

"Ok, this was not how I expected this evening to go." Daniel admitted as he started chuckling too. How could he not…her fit was a little contagious. He lay back on the bed beside her.

He was amazed by Betty. Her sophistication seemed to grow with each passing year, and she was so bright, intelligent and well informed. And yet this same woman had a side to her that so incredibly playful it was almost silly at times. She was as goofy as she was smart and as wacky as she was sexy…which reminded him… this laughing fit needed to stop because it was seriously interfering with what Daniel had in mind. He had an idea. He rolled onto his side and snatched the pillow away from her, tossing it across the room. Then before she even had time to start another giggle fit, he planted his lips firmly on hers. He could feel her smile breaking out even as he tried to kiss her, so he deepened the kiss a little. It seemed to work - she forgot she was laughing and started kissing him back. He actually thought the plan had been successful…until he tried to touch her. She immediately started laughing again. He sighed and pulled back a bit.

"I don't think I've ever been laughed at when I did that before…at least not since junior high." He commented, but he was grinning.

"I'm sorry." She managed to get out between giggles. "That tickles a little. Let's try again." She looked pleadingly at him.

He obliged, kissing her deeply and trying, very carefully, to only touch her where he thought she might not be ticklish. This time her laughing completely faded and they moved on to more important things.

Afterward, Betty was lying with her head on Daniel's chest. She started kissing him on his arms, his chest, and his stomach.

"Wow…Betty. You're really enthusiastic tonight. And it's not that I mind…I just need a few more minutes." Daniel commented.

"It's not that…I just can't stop kissing you. It's just…I don't know...wow…you're magnificent."

Daniel laughed; he kind of liked Betty this way, it was good for his ego. Sober Betty might call him a lot of nice things but he was pretty sure "magnificent" wouldn't be one of them. He'd never actually seen her with this much alcohol in her system. Her inhibitions were down and she was saying whatever popped into her head without much censorship. It made Daniel think of Betty's first trip to London when she flashed Gio in a bar. Somehow that event was a lot more believable witnessing this Betty first hand.

She lay back down on the pillow. "I can't believe I'm sleeping in Daniel Meade's bed."

"You sleep in my bed all of the time." Daniel said a little confused.

"That's London Daniel. This is New York Daniel." Betty said.

Daniel laughed again…amused that now there were two of him.

Betty continued a smile on her lips as she thought about it. "New York's most eligible bachelor." A thought occurred to her and she sat upright, a slight look of disgust on her face as she looked at the bed.

Daniel immediately read what she was thinking.

"Betty, this was my bedroom when I was a kid…living with my parents." He spoke slowly so slightly inebriated Betty would be able to understand. "I didn't bring women here."

She looked relieved, but then questioning, as she realized he had lived here when he was a highly hormonal teenage boy. "Ever?" She asked.

Daniel thought for a second and an interesting look crossed his face.

"Never mind." Betty decided. "I don't want to know." She flopped back down on the pillow.

He laughed. "Now…if we were sleeping in my loft—"

"Oh please…I don't even want to go there." Betty cringed. She gasped. "I just realized something…I'm the only woman who's ever slept in your bed in London." Drunken Betty said it like it was an accomplishment to be proud of.

Daniel looked at her sweetly and then leaned over her, his face just inches from hers. "Or ever will." He said and then he kissed her warmly.

Wow…the significance of that sent her wheels spinning. Daniel thought if he listened hard enough he should be able to hear the gears turning. She sat up after a few seconds and he wondered what amusing thing was going to pop out of her mouth now…she was obviously going to say something.

"I love you." She said, her eyes were bright and she was very excited. "And you love me. And I don't ever want us not to be together. You're my best friend and I want to spend my whole life with you. We've already talked about all the important stuff and we are sooo on the same page about everything…so what are we waiting for? Considering all the stuff that's happened this week…I mean…you never know what life has in store…it just seems like a waste of time to keep waiting. Let's just do it. Let's get—"

Daniel clamped his hand over her mouth. And then he said, sweetly but firmly, keeping his hand in place as he sat up, "I love you Betty…but you have had a little – maybe even a lot – too much to drink tonight. And as adorable as that makes you…I will not let you propose to me in a post-coital, semi-drunken haze. Is that really the story you want to tell our kids and grand kids? Or even your family?"

Her eyes went wide as he spoke and when he let go of her mouth she couldn't help but smile. She couldn't believe Daniel was thinking that far ahead and the way he said "our" made her giddy again.

Then he started to mimic the depiction. " "Mom, tell us how Dad proposed." "Well actually, I proposed to him when I was slightly blitzed, after ringing in the New Year with some phenomenal sex.""

Betty giggled and then, with mock seriousness, she said "I don't know if I'd use the word "phenomenal"." Her eyes were teasing him.

Daniel grinned and shook his head at her and then pushed her back down on the bed.

"When the time is right, I promise you, I will plan something worthy of you - something romantic and beautiful and special. It'll be something you'll never forget and you'll want to tell everyone. That is the very least you deserve Betty." He was so determined and what he said was so sweet that Betty almost wanted to cry…and it might have been the alcohol a little too.

"It doesn't have to be extravagant, you know." She told him.

"It has to be, at least, significant and thoughtful." He was adamant. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly.

"We're going to have a really good year this year…aren't we?" She said it more like a statement than a question.

"We definitely are." He promised, smiling at her. "Even if yours does start with a slight head ache."

The End


End file.
